Alien  PkoL'r 


THE 


INCREASE  OF  CRIME, 


AND 


ITS    CAUSE. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS. 


BY  ANNA   B.  BOONE. 


AND  A  SKETCH  OF  HER  ANTECEDENTS. 


BOSTON: 
PUBLISHED    BY    THE    AUTHOR. 

1871. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 

ANNA  B.  BOONE, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


*••  • 


BOSTON  : 

STEREOTYPED   AND   PRINTED   BY   RAND,    AVERY,   &    FRYB. 


To  MRS.  E.  OAKES  SMITH, 

THE  AUTHORESS. 

DEAR  MADAM: 

Years  ago  I  read  some  of  your  exquisite  productions  with  infinite  delight ;  and 
subsequently  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  conversing  with  you,  which  confirmed  the 
opinion  I  had  entertained  of  your  intellectual  and  moral  worth.  And  permit  me  to 
add,  that  I  know  not  another  woman  who  has  with  more  dignity  and  honor  filled  the 
positions  assigned  by  God  to  our  sex  —  Woman,  Wife,  and  Mother  —  than  yourself! 
And  that  this  humble  offering  may  prove  acceptable  to  you  is  the  earnest 
desire  of 

Yours  faithfully, 

ANNA  B.  BOONE. 


M162537 


PREFACE. 


"DEADER,  there  are  thousands  of  mankind 
•T"  ^  who  have  no  idea  what  the  many  suffer  to 
live,  or  rather  to  eke  out  an  existence,  no  more 
than  those  enjoying  fine  health  and  affluence 
know  they  must  suffer  to  die. 

As  I  intend  returning  to  England  speedily, 
and  it  is  scarcely  probable  that  I  shall  come 
back  to  this  country  again,  I  wish  to  set  the 
public  right  on  more  than  one  subject.  Many 
persons  have  informed  me,  that  it  was  currently 
reported  and  believed,  that,  when  the  gas  acci- 
dent happened  to  myself  and  children,  I  re- 
ceived a  large  sum  of  money.  As  this  statement 
«vas  false,  and  many  others,  I  have  determined 
to  give  a  graphic  account  of  the  whole  affair ; 
which  ought  to  be  a  warning  to  all  people  of 
the  evil  effects  of  COAL  gas,  police  gas,  and  wo- 
men's gas. 

6 


6  PREFACE. 

I  have  passed  many  happy  years  in  America, 
intermingled  with  much  vicissitude  and  tribula- 
tion. I  have  had  six  children  born  in  this  coun- 
try, and  my  others  came  here  when  comparative 
babies.  My  husband  was  naturalized,  and  lost 
his  life  in  the  late  war.  Two  of  the  most  sym- 
pathizing and  loving  friends  that  I  ever  had 
were  American  women,  —  one  moving  in  the 
highest  classes  of  society,  and  the  other  in  a 
more  humble  sphere  of  life;  but  both  were  just 
such  women  as  I  believe  God  meant  us  all  to 
be.  A  great  writer,  whose  name  I  forget,  said, 
if  a  man  meets  with  one  real  friend  as  he  passes 
through  life,  he  may  think  himself  fortunate,  or 
words  tantamount.  So  I  ought  to  feel  doubly 
blessed  ;  and  I  do.  With  many  such  reminis- 
cences, it  is  scarcely  to  be  wondered  at  that  I 
leave  America  with  affectionate  regret.  When 
we  first  came  to  this  country,  I  remember  a 
man  saying  to  Mr.  Boone,  "  I  guess  you  thought 
to  pick  gold  up  in  the  road,  when  you  came 
here ;  but  you'll  have  to  go  through  the  ( mill,' 
like  the  rest  of  us," 

Reader,  I  have  been  through  the  "mill" 
twenty  times  or  more,  and  it  has  not  ground  me 


PREFACE.  7 

up  yet.  But,  had  it  not  been  for  the  resigna- 
tion to  bear  bravely  what  trials  might  assail  us, 
and  the  determination  to  make  the  best  of  what 
was  unavoidable,  I  certainly  should  have  been 
mingled  with  the  mother  earth  long  ago. 

Some  persons  are  apt  to  think,  when  men  or 
women  give  their  ideas  and  experience,  that  they 
are  egotists.  If  this  be  the  case,  then  every- 
body should  cease  to  write  at  all ;  for  all  authors 
are  supposed  to  give  their  own  opinions  (al- 
though we  occasionally  find  out  that  they  bor- 
row a  few),  even  when  the  hero  or  moral  of  the 
tale  is  a  fictitious  one.  Yet  I  suppose,  to  some 
extent,  humanity  is  inclined  to  be  egotistical. 
Still  I  do  not  think  this  appellation  should  be 
applied  to  men  and  women  whom  God  may  have 
chosen  to  pass  through  ordeals  of  a  strange  and 
critical  nature,  and,  by  being  brought  forth  to 
the  public,  may  prove  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive, and  beneficial  results  generate  therefrom. 
Of  course,  in  my  peculiar  position,  I  had  seen 
more  of  the  world  and  its  inmates  ten  years 
ago,  than  the  generality  of  women  double  my 
age.  So  I  wish  to  give  my  ideas  on  the  "  In- 
crease of  Crime,"  and  its  cause.  In  this  age  of 


8  PREFACE. 

knowledge ;  in  this  age  of  refinement ;  in  this  age 
of  literature ;  in  this  age  when  we  can  scarcely 
pass  two  streets  without  beholding  a  church, 
which  is  a  building  supposed  to  be  a  sacred  place, 
where  men  and  women  congregate  together  and 
return  thanks  to  God  for  his  mercies  to  them, 
and  offer  up  prayers,  beseeching  to  be  directed 
into  the  "  narrow  path  "  that  guides  them  up  to 
glory  and  to  God,  —  still,  the  "increase  of 
crime "  is  conspicuously  evident.  So,  at  a  ven- 
ture, I  state  some  facts,  and  ask  a  few  "solid 
questions  "  of  the  thinking  public. 

Faithfully, 

ANNA  B.  BOONE. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

Contains  a  Sketch  of  my  Antecedents,  and  gives  Reasons  why  I  ever 
camo  before  the  Public.  Still,  cannot  but  think  that  Home  is  Wo- 
man's Proper  Sphere  ......... 

CHAPTER   n. 

With  Two  Solid  Questions:  First,  Are  we  to  have  Children,  or  not  ? 
With  Comments  on  the  Rev.  Dr.  Todd's  Lecture  on  this  Subject,, 
entitled,  "  Fashionable  Murders."  Second  Question:  Where  are  we> 
to  put  Children  when  we  get  them  ?  For  every  notice,  when  Apart- 
ments are  to  let,  is  most  emphatic,  "No  Children  taken."  One 
Cause  of  the  Increase  of  Crime 

CHAPTER   III. 

Shows  the  Evil  Effect  of  Coal  Gas,  Police  Gas,  and  Woman's  Gas,  with 
Two  Solid  Questions :  First,  Is  it  not  the  Love  of  Fame,  in  Ninety- 
nine  cases  out  of  a  Hundred,  that  induces  Women  to  ask  for  Men's 
Rights?  Second  Question:  Ought  we  not  to  cultivate  Health,  and 
make  this  Subject  one  of  the  Chief  Branches  of  Education  in 
Public  Schools? — which  would  prove  a  Sure  Step  to  wards  decreas- 
ing Crime 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Contains  a  Few  More  Ideas  of  the  Power  that  True  Women  possess  to 
disseminate  Good  without  asking  for  Men's  Rights ;  and  One  Solid 
Question:  Did  God  mean  Man  and  Woman  to  follow  the  same 
Vocation,  or  to  be  co-equal  ?  No.  My  Reason,  for  it  .  .  . 


10  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   V. 

A  Long  One.  Asks  another  Solid  Question:  Are  Women  True  Friends 
to  each  other?  No;  not  as  a  Body,  —  decidedly  not.  Another 
Cause  for  the  Increase  of  Crime,  with  a  Description  of  my  Hospital 
Friends,  and  Three  Butterflies  with  the  Shape  and  Sting  of  a  Wasp, 
and  meant  for  Women 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Is  another  Long  One,  with  My  Three  Last  Solid  Questions,— Is  Dress  or 
Worth  to  be  respected  ?  Are  we  not  to  honor  the  Respectable  Poor  ? 
Yes.  But  do  we?  No.  Another  Cause  for  the  Increase  of  Crime. 
Are  all  Men  equal?  No.  The  very  Dogs  teach  us  this;  so  do  the 
Divisions  of  the  Earth,  —  the  Hitts  and  the  Dales,  the  Mountains  and 
the  Valleys,  the  Richness  of  One  Soil  and  the  Barrenness  of  another; 
all  these  Natural  Distinctions  are  living  Proofs  that  Equality  does  not 
exist,  and  never  will  here.  Equality  by  Dress  only  is  dangerous, 
and  another  Cause  of  the  Increase  of  Crime 

CHAPTER    VH. 

la  Longer  still.  Gives  Further  Evidence  of  the  Great  Attention  that  is 
paid  to  the  Outer  Man,  instead  of  the  Inner  Man,  and  the  Evil  Re- 
sults therefrom;  with  Several  Episodes  appertaining  to  this  Subject. 
The  Conclusion 

NOTE.  — At  the  end  of  this  work  there  will  be  Eight  Short  Lectures  and 
Articles  on  Different  Subjects, 

By  yours  faithfully, 

ANNA  B.  BOONK. 


THE  INCKEASE  OF  CKIIE,  AND  ITS  CAUSE, 


CHAPTER    I. 


With  a  Brief  Sketch  of  my  Antecedents,  and  the  Reason  why  I  ever  came 
before  the  Public  ;  as  I  do  not  think  it  Woman's  Proper  Sphere. 


READER  :  previous  to  my  solid  questions,  and  previ- 
ous to  an  explanatory  statement  I  am  about  to  lay 
before  you  with  regard  to  the  supposed  poisoning  case, 
that  was  so  proved  and  conned  over,  and  which  I  will 
by  and  by  prove  to  you  that  scarcely  an  atom  of  the 
statement  was  correct,  I  wish  to  give  you  a  short 
sketch  of  my  antecedents,  not  from  a  mere  matter  of 
boast,  to  show  you  to  whom  I  am  related,  but  to 
demonstrate  how  persons  born  in  the  most  refined 
classes  of  society  are  frequently  tossed  about  this 
world  by  the  wayward  winds  of  Fate,  just  as  vessels 
are  upon  the  vacillating,  tempestuous  ocean. 

I  am  not  a  "  woman's-rights  "  woman,  that  is,  in  the 
usual  acceptation  of  the  word ;  and  I  openly  protest 
against  woman  going  out  of  her  natural  sphere. 

Persons  knowing  my  ideas  on  this  subject  frequently 

11 


•£2|        77/tf  INCREASE  OF  .CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

exclaim,  "  Mrs.  Boone,  how  came  you  to  let  your 
daughters  come  before  the  public?  Is  not  that  kind 
of  life  out  of  woman's  element?  And  why  do  you 
come? — you  who  insist  that  home  is  the  most  majestic 
kingdom  for  a  woman  to  reign  in."  Reader,  it  is  rather 
a  hackneyed  saying,  nevertheless  a  true  one,  "  Circum- 
stances alter  cases."  When  I  was  young  and  admired, 
I  never  went  before  the  public  ;  now,  in  the  meridian 
of  life,  and  a  grandmother,  I  am  compelled  to  do  so : 
it  is  my  fate.*  Presently  I  will  tell  you  haw  I  ever 
allowed  my  children  to  appear  as  public  readers.  Some 
hundreds  of  years  ago,  an  old  and  wealthy  family,  by 
the  name  of  De  la  Hooke,  came  from  France  and 
settled  in  England.  After  many  years'  residence  in 
that  country,  they  dropped  the  De  la,  simply  retain- 
ing the  name  of  Hooke.  James  Hooke,  my  great- 
grandfather, lived  at  Langdon  Hall,  Wembury,  near 
Plymouth,  England  ;  and  all  the  surrounding  farmers 
rented  their  land  of  him.  His  eldest  son,  James,  was 
married  near  Plymouth,  on  the  4th  June,  1783,  at 
Wembury  Church,  by  Benjamin  Love,  to  Ann  Acland, 
one  of  the  Devonshire  Aclands.  Every  English  person 
knows  how  highly  this  ancient  family  stands  in  society 
up  to  the  present  time.  My  grandmother  had  twelve 
children.  I  am  not  at  this  moment  going  to  enter  into 
any  details,  further  than  inform  you  that  the  whole 
family  were  considered  to  possess  intellectual  powers  of 

*  And  I  do  not  see  the  necessity  of  women  asking  Congress  for  the  liberty 
to  do  just  what  suits  them.    Nobody  interferes  with  me. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS.  13 

a  high  degree ;  and  I  am  simply  stating  a  fact  when 
I  inform  you  that  Grace,  my  mother,  was  considered 
the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  children.  Almost  every 
pious  person,  both  in  England  and  America,  has  heard 
of  Samuel  Drew  of  St.  Austell,  Cornwall,  England, 
who  first  distinguished  himself  by  writing  an  essay  on 
the  "  Immortality  and  Immateriality  oft  he  Soul,"  in 
answer  to  Tom  Paine's  "  Age  of  Reason."  My  mother 
read  this  great  work,  and  wrote  a  criticism  on  it,  and 
sent  it  to  him  without  her  name.  My  mother's  brother, 
at  that  time  a  lawyer  practising  in  Plymouth,  wrote 
to  Mr.  Drew,  asking  how  his  sister  had  obtained  an 
introduction  to  him  ;  he  replied,  "  I  received  an  anony- 
mous letter,  with  some  of  the  most  original  and  power- 
ful ideas  on  my  '  work,'  I  imagined  written  by  some 
'  sage.'  I  answered  it,  but,  at  the  same  time,  informed 
the  writer,  that,  unless  he  gave  his  true  name,  I  would 
drop  the  correspondence.  What  was  my  astonish- 
ment," continued  the  great  man,  u  to  find  the  answer 
dated  from  SL  AustelPs  Seminary,  and  the  writer  a 
young  school-girl,  your  sister,  Grace  Hooke."  My 
mother  corresponded  with  Mr.  Drew  on  theological 
matters  from  the  beginning  of  1809  to  the  latter  end 
of  1812  ;  and,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  out  of  the  sixty  letters 
I  have  only  fourteen  left.  At  his  death,  his  son  wrote, 
asking,  as  a  great  favor,  for  all  his  father's  letters,  as 
they  were  about  to  publish  his  life  ;  promising  to  return 
them,  which  he  did.  \nd  some  of  my  mother's  letters, 


14        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,   AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

and  Mr.  Drew's  answers,  are  in  the  large  volume  that 
was  first  published  of  his  life.  And  I  do  feel  proud  that 
this  great  metaphysician,  who  was  in  constant  corre- 
spondence with  the  illustrious  Dr.  Adam  Clarke  and 
many  other  men  of  note,  wrote  to  my  mother,  "  My 
dear  young  friend,  your  description  of  the  poor  old 
man  who  came  trembling  to  your  door  was  most 
beautiful.  I  felt  as  if  I  saw  him  standing  before  me." 

C"> 

My  mother's  brother,  that  I  have  just  referred  to, 
married  Augusta  Dillon.  Her  brother  and  the  old  Earl 
of  Roscommon  contended  for  some  years  for  the  earl- 
dom ;  but  the  present  earl's  father  gained  the  cause. 
Some  years  after,  my  uncle  marrying,  he  determined 
on  entering  the  ecclesiastical  profession  ;  and,  although 
he  had  been  educated  at  Oxford,  he  had  to  re-study  at 
Cambridge ;  and  he  was  not  permitted  by  the  bishop 
to  accept  a  curacy  until  he  resumed  the  old  name  that 
had  been  dropped  for  more  than  a  hundred  years : 
consequently,  all  of  the  family  that  remained  unmarried 
did  the  same ;  and  he  is  at  this  time  the  Rev.  James 
De  la  Hooke,  Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Bridgewater, 
England  ;  and  his  only  daughter,  Anna,  married  tlio 
eldest  son  of  Bishop  Ottar,  Bishop  of  Chichester,  and 
brother  to  the  present  Lady  Belper.  Lord  Beiper  was 
appointed  at  the  head  of  the  Queen's  household  during 
the  Duke  of  Newcastle's  visit  to  this  country  with  the 
Prince  of  Wales.  So  you  perceive  that  my  cousin 
Anna,  now  living  in  Toronto,  has  known  none  of  the 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS.  13 

vicissitudes  of  Anna  B.  Boone.  Capt.  De  la  Hooke 
of  the  British  Army,  and  Dr.  James  De  la  Hooke,  near 
Toronto,  are  my  other  two  cousins.  My  mother 
married  Patrick  George  Boyle,  a  surgeon  in  the  navy. 
He  passed  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons  as  an 
assistant  in  1810,  and  1816  as  a  full  surgeon :  and  wax' 
appointed  in  that  capacity  at  the  Stonehouse  Naval 
Hospital,  Plymouth;  and  on  the  1st  of  August, -1826, 
he  took  his  degree  as  a  doctor  of  medicine  at  the  Royal 
University,  Edinburgh.  My  father  was  the  son  of 
Justice  Boyle  of  Sligo,  Ireland.  He  was  not  hand- 
some, but  distinguished  in  manners  and  appearance, 
proud  to  a  fault,  but  generous  and  charitable  to  the 
poor.  During  his  life,  we  lived  stylishly;  he  and  my 
mother  mixing  among  the  most  refined  classes  of 
society  in  Scotland.  Besides  an  extensive  practice,  rny 
father  had  a  liberal  pension  for  life,  for  a  periodical 
paralyzation  of  his  hands,  caused  by  the  climate  in  the 
East  Indies,  where  he  was  appointed  by  the  British 
Government  for  some  years.  Added  to  this,  he  had  his 
half-pay  as  a  surgeon  in  the  navy ;  but  he  lived  up  to 
every  guinea  of  his  income,  and,  at  his  death,  we  were 
reduced  to  almost  indigent  circumstances.  To  my 
mother,  who  had  been  nurtured  in  affluence,  this  unex- 
pected event  was  a  severe  trial :  still  she  bore  il 
with  dignity,  and  told  us,  when  we  children  com- 
plained, to  imagine  how  much  worse  off  we  would  be 
if  we  were  shipwrecked.  And  I  was  made  to  read 


16        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE, 

aioud  c*  Robinson  Crusoe,"  little  dreaming,  either  she 
or  /,  how  my  life  would  yet  resemble  a  shipwrecked 
manner's.  For  three  years  we  lived  in  a  very  isolated, 
semantic  place  called  "  Bovisand  Point,"  near  Plym- 
outh, belonging  to  my  two  maiden  aunts,  Anna  and 
Sarah  De  la  Hooke ;  and  I  believe  that  I  owe,  in  a 
great  measure,  my  fine  health  at  the  present  moment 
to  the  pure  air  and  the  almost  unlimited  exercise  I 
was  allowed  to  take  while  living  there.  Plymouth 
Sound  was  in  the  front  of  our  house ;  the  breakwater 
and  Eddystone  lighthouse  were  visible  to  the  naked  eye, 
with  an  immense  expanse  of  water.  Some  years  ago, 
Mrs.  Dr.  Cabbie  of  Richmond,  sister  to  Mrs.  Gen. 
Scott,  was  anxious  that  I  should  write  my  life,  which 
she  thought  was  most  remarkable.  I  was  to  dedicate 
it  to  her.  But,  on  my  return  to  this  country,  I  wag 
grieved  to  learn  she  had  left  this  world.  Some  of  my 
children  likewise  wish  me  to  publish  my  life,  which  I 
intend  doing  on  my  return  to  London  ;  and  I  am  quite 
certain  that  all  mothers  will  feel  deeply  interested 
when  they  peruse  it.  As  I  am  the  only  woman  in  the 
whole  family  really  poor,  the  only  one  that  was  ever 
before  the  public,  and  the  only  one  with  so  large  a 
family  depending  solely  on  the  efforts  of  one  woman, 
I  must  tell  you  the  secret  of  this  state  of  affairs.  I 
married  in  opposition  to  my  mother's  wishes,  and  all  my 
relations.  Mr.  Boone  was  what  we  English  define  a 

O 

poor  gentleman :    had   great  expectations,  which  were 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  17 

never  realized,  and  no  profession.  At  first,  my  mother 
was  prepossessed  in  his  favor,  and  quite  willing  that  he 
should  pay  his  addresses  to  me  ;  but,  when  she  found 
out  that  his  mother's  income  went  back  into  the  Kirk- 
patrick  family  of  "  Haladal  House  "  in  Kent  at  her 
death,  my  mother  was  most  opposed  to  our  marriage  ; 
arguing,  that,  if  a  man  at  thirty-six  had  made  no  stand- 
ing in  this  world  by  his  talents  and  education,  it  was 
scarcely  probable  that  he  ever  would.  I  wish  to  say  a 
few  words  to  you  parents  who  may  read  this  book. 
Should  you  not  approve  of  your  children's  choice  of  a 
husband,  make  them  as  happy  as  you  are  capable  of 
doing  at  home,  and  let  the  man  continue  his  visits,  and 
point  out  his  defects.  Kindly  appeal  to  your  child's 
reason,  principles,  and  common  sense ;  but  never  say, 
"  You  sha'n't  have  that  man  !  and  I  dare  him  ever  to 
enter  my  house!"  paiticularly  if  the  gentleman  is 
twenty  years  older  than  your  daughter ;  for  a  man  of 
that  age  has  more  power  over  a  girl  than  one  nearer 
her  own  age :  and,  depend  upon  it,  have  him  she  will 
when  she  feels  her  youthful  dignity  insulted  by  making 
her  a  prisoner ! 

At  this  time  we  lived  in  Plymouth,  and  I  was  sent 
with  a  letter  to  my  aunts  at  Bovisand.  My  mother,  it 
seems,  wrote,  asking  her  sisters  to  detain  me,  and  take 
a  portion  of  my  clothes  away.  This  was  the  worst 
course  they  could  have  adopted  for  such  a  spirit  as 
mine.  At  four  o'clock,  one  morning,  Mr.  Boone  came 

2 


18        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

after  me  in  a  boat.  A  servant  sympathized  with  me, 
lent  me  a  bonnet  and  shoes.  I  jumped  out  at  the 
window,  and  went  back  with  him  to  his  mother's.  I 
was  instantly  disguised  as  an  old  lady,  and  Mrs.  Boone 
and  I  were  booked  for  Exeter.  Mr.  B.  followed  at 
midnight  on  foot,  walking  forty-four  miles  in  the  rain. 
We  were  married  immediately ;  and,  in  seven  years  and 
two  days,  my  sixth  living  child,  but  first  American  one, 
was  ushered  into  this  world.  None  of  my  relations, 
save  my  mother,  ever  took  the  slightest  notice  of  me 
after  my  marriage ;  and,  just  as  my  beloved  parent  had 
prognosticated,  poverty  came  upon  us,  and  staid  with 
us  for  many  a  year. 

Mr.  Boone  was  a  man  of  integrity,  sober  and 
educated,  of  an  elegant  appearance,  but  with  no  knowl- 
edge of  business,  and  quite  incapable  of  earning  a 
livelihood  for  his  family.  Still  he  was  a  brave  man;  and 
at  the  time  the  epidemic  caused  such  devastation  in 
Norfolk,  Va.,  fourteen  years  ago,  he  went  down  of 
his  own  accord,  and  nursed  the  sick,  when  hundreds 
were  running  away  as  far  as  they  could  get ;  and, 
in  the  late  war,  he  volunteered  his  services,  and  lost  his 
life  for  the  Union!  He  wrote  some  beautiful  poems; 
but  they  were  never  published.  I  have  a  few  left,  that 
I  hope  yet  to  print.  When  he  was  employed  at 
Tariffville,  Conn.,  by  Mr.  Thomson,  he  only  received 
six  dollars  per  week.  We  had  a  little  money  sent  us 
occasionally  from  England ;  but  we  could  scarcely  pay 
our  way.  This  was  terrible  to  bear.  So  I  determined 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS.  19 

to  try  a  school ;  and  I  did,  and  succeeded  well.  In  a 
short  time,  I  had  sixty  pupils,  —  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren. One  day  a  lady  called  on  me,  and  asked  if  I 
would  read  something  at  a  small  hall  in  the  village, 
for  the  benefit  of  a  poor  man  who  had  lost  his  arm  by 
the  machinery  in  the  factory,  and  had  three  sick, 
motherless  children.  I  had  never  been  before  the 
public ;  but,  under  such  heart-rending  circumstances,  I 
acquiesced,  and  earned  sixty-nine  dollars  for  the  family. 
At  the  same  time  I  brought  out  my  second  child,  Lora 
Gordon,  at  the  tender  age  of  six  years.  She  made  quite 
a  sensation  by  reading  "  Portia's  Eulogium  on  Mercy  :  " 
the  ladies  were  affected  to  tears.  And  this  was  the  first 
appearance  of  any  of  the  Boone  Family  before  the 
public.  And  I  am  proud  that  it  was  for  an  act  of  pure 
charity,  and  nothing  more,  although  it  led  to  much 
more  eventually.  At  this  time  the  factory  "  burst  up," 
—  that's  what  the  men  called  it ;  and  my  school  exploded 
at  the  same  time,  and  hundreds  were  thrown  out  of 
employment,  —  my  husband  among  the  rest ;  so  we 
winged  our  way  on  to  New  York  once  more.  And 
Mr.  Charles  White  was  the  first  to  bring  out-  my  little 
girl.  Lord  Erskine  was  once  asked  how  he  could  go 
into  court  and  plead,  with  such  a  great  orator  as  Lord 
Mansfield  for  his  opponent.  He  replied,  "  I  thought  I 
felt  my  little  ones  tugging  at  my  gown  for  bread  ;  and  I 
went."  Reader.  I  have  felt  my  little  ones  tugging  at 
my  gown  for  bread  many  a  time,  which  made  me 


20        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

introduce  my  children  to  the  public  as  infant  prodigies 
and  I  went  forth  into  the  world  as  their  protector, 
teacher,  and  manager,  without  one  atom  of  knowledge 
appertaining  to  the  path  I  had  to  tread  in,  — wanderin<? 
and  wading  over  land  and  water  for  the  support  cf  my 
family.  A  lady  once  asked  me  why  I  did  not  settle  '.n 
one  place.  "  I  would  like  to,"  I  replied  ;  "  but  it  requires 
'capital,'  and  I  have  none;  and,  as  Eugene  Sue 
describes,  I  hear  a  voice  saying,  '  Onward,  onward  ! ' '' 
It  is  the  voice  of  my  children.  I  say  again,  "  home  "  is 
the  right  sphere  for  woman.  One  week  before  Grace 
was  born,  I  travelled  all  night  from  Fayettevillo,  N.C., 
to  Raleigh  ;  and  the  thunder  and  the  lightning  was  so 
severe  that  the  trees  were  felled  to  the  ground,  and  the 
carriage  could  not  pass,  and  the  driver  had  to  make  his 
way  through  a  ploughed  field.  The  carriage  shook  sa 
terribly  that  I  was  compelled  to  get  out  and  walk  through 
that  storm.  Women,  I-  thought  if  my  mother  could  have 
seen  me  at  that  moment !  but  she  never  knew  it. 

Many  years  passed,  and  my  oldest  child,  Anna 
Isabella,  was  married  to  John  Burr,  on  the  5th  of 
February,  1862,  at  the  Register  Office,  Ampheel  Square, 
Hampstead  Road,  London.  He  is  an  artist  quite  cele- 
brated. And,  some  years  ago,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Guthrie  pre- 
d^cted  from  his  pulpit  that  Edinburgh  would  yet  be  proud 
of  the  Brothers  Burr.  And  she  is.  His  pictures  have 
been  copied  in  the  "Illustrated  London  News,"  "  Har- 
per's," and  almost  every  paper  of  this  style ;  and  last 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS.  21 

November,  1869,  "  The  Art  Journal "  hac  a  biographl- 
cal  sketch  of  "  John  Burr,"  showing,  that,  as  early  as 
fourteen  years  of  age,  lie  earned  his  own  living  by  paint- 
ing portraits.  They  bad  three  copies  of  bis  pictures  in 
this  journal,  and  spoke  in  the  highest  possible  manner 
of  his  genius.  My  sixth  child,  and  fourth  daughter, 
Charlotte  Yolante,  was  married  October  6,  1862,  at 
Trinity  Church,  Portland  Road,  Regent's  Park,  Lon- 
don, to  Abram  Bishop  Smith,  son  of  Nathan  Smith  of 
New  York.  His  maternal  grandfather  was  Senator 
Bishop  the  noted  politician  of  New  Haven.  My  second 
daughter  was  married,  on  the  18th  of  October  in  1865, 
at  Ampheel  Square,  Hampstead  Road,  to  John  Aylwin 
Bevan,  surgeon  in  Guy's  Hospital,  London,  and  son  of 
John  Connel  Delerue  Bevan,  broker,  Bishopgate 
Street  Within,  London. 

On  hearing  of  the  marriages  of  my  children,  one  of 
my  aristocratic  relations  wrote,  asking  me  how  it  came 
I  had  settled  my  daughters  so  elegantly,  when  they 
were  poor,  young,  in  public,  and  the  press  said  beauti- 
ful. I  replied,  I  trained  their  naturally  refined  minds 
so  carefully,  that  no  low-bred  man  would  be  attracted 
by  them.  I  watched  over  them  as  a  miser  does  his 
gold ;  I  guarded  and  guided  them  from  helpless  child- 
hood up  to  glorious  womanhood,  and  sent  them  forth  into 
their  husbands'  homes  as  spotless  as  Oriental  pearls !  * 

*  All  my  daughters'  marriages  were  of  a  most  romantic  nature :  the  particu- 
ars  I  shall  ncount  in  my  Life.  Charlotte  was  educated  by  her  husband  at  a 


22        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

I  will  now  introduce  a  little  episode  that  happened 
when  I  was  between  eleven  and  twelve  years  of  a^e, 
which  was  symbolical  of  all  my  future  life.  When  a 
child,  I  had  the  greatest  horror  of  a  needle  and  thread, 
and  books  of  every  kind  were  distasteful  to  me  ;  hut, 
of  a  poetical  nature,  the  first  thing  I  ever  learned  of 
my  own  accord  was  Byron's  "  Prisoner  of  Chillon." 
I  thought  it  so  melancholy  and  so  touchingly  beautiful, 
and  I  read  it  so  often,  that  I  quite  astonished  my 
mother  by  reciting  it  one  evening  at  a  party.  My 
dislike  to  every  kind  of  lesson  grieved  her  sadly.  I 
used  to  spend  many  hours  daily  on  the  beach,  looking 
at  the  majestic  rocks,  and  the  shining,  sparkling,  silvery 
spray  dashing  against  them  in  its  luminous  splendor, 
changing  into  so  many  different  colors,  and  glittering 
like  precious  gems  in  the  sunlight ;  wondering  at  every 
thing  and  knowing  nothing.  One  morning,  to  avoid 
my  lessons,  I  went  forth  earlier  than  usual  to  gather 
shells.  After  a  while  I  fell  asleep.  How  long  I  re- 
mained so  I  know  not.  When  I  awoke,  I  found  my  feet 
in  the  water.  I  stood  up  in  a  state  of  great  bewilderment, 
and  soon  perceived  that  the  path  I  had  come  down  by 
was  not  visible ;  and  I  saw  no  means  of  escape  !  I  knew 


boarding-school;  she  wanting  twenty-eight  days  of  being  fourteen  the  morning 
she  became  his  wife.  Any  person  doubting  these  statements  can  obtain  a 
certificate  by  enclosing  two  shillings  and  sixpence,  English,  with  date,  to  the 
places  named.  This  last-mentioned  alliance  was  iiuch  against  my  witt, 
although  I  was  present  at  the  wedding.  I  will  explain  hereafter. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  23 

it  would  be  quite  useless  to  cry  for  help,  as  there  was 
not  even  a  habitation  in  sight.  Suddenly  I  perceived  a 
long,  narrow  rock,  almost  perpendicular,  that  jutted  out 
from  the  cliff.  I  waded  towards  it;  and,  the  nearer  I 
approached,  the  more  impossible  it  seemed  for  me  to 
attempt  to  climb  it.  My  case  was  desperate ;  and,  if  I 
did  not  act  at  once,  I  would  be  lost !  Death  was 
stretching  out  his  arms  to  receive  me  in  his  embrace ; 
so  I  made  one  bold  effort,  and  mounted  the  rock. 
There  was  a  deep,  stagnant  pool  of  black  water  on  one 
side,  and  the  sea  was  fast  covering  up  the  foot  of  the 
rock  on  the  other  side,  which  was  scarcely  an  inch 
wider  than  my  body  ;  so  I  put  my  arms  round  it,  and 
there  I  lay  for  some  time,  wondering  what  I  should  do. 
Again  my  feet  were  in  the  water ;  and  I  cried  aloud  to 
God  to  help  me  in  my  despair,  and  give  me  strength  of 
mind  and  body.  The  sweat  poured  from  my  face,  my 
hair  seemed  as  if  it  stood  straight  up  upon  my  head  ; 
but  God  heard  and  ansivered  the  little  girl's  prayer. 
All  at  once  I  perceived  some  green-looking  stalks  grow- 
ing out  of  the  side  of  the  rock,  where  some  earth  had 
fallen  from  the  cliff;  and,  in  stretching  out  my  hand  to 
clutch  at  them,  I  found,  that,  in  my  agony,  I  still  held 
the  pretty  shells  tightly  clasped  in  my  right  hand.  A 
thought  instantly  seized  me ;  and  I  said  within  myself, 
"  If  I  throw  away  these  shells,  I  can,  with  God's  help, 
get  to  the  top  of  this  rock,  and  then  I  shall  be  safe  on 
the  land  !  "  I  threw  them  away  ;  and,  while  doing  so,  I 


24        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,   AND  ITS   OAUSE  ; 

thought,  "  These  pretty  things  are  like  the  vanities  of  the 
world :  if  we  keep  them  in  our  hearts,  as  I  did  the 
shells  in  my  hand,  we  cannot  get  higher  than  we  are  ; 
but,  by  throwing  them  away,  we  will  get  higher  and 
higher,  and  reach  heaven  at  last."  When,  after  nearly 
an  hour's  exertion,  inch  by  inch  I  gained  the  cliff,  and 
found  myself  once  more  safe  on  the  ground,  I  fell 
upon  my  knees,  and  sobbed  forth  a  prayer  of  humble 
gratitude  to  Him  who  had  delivered  me  out  of  the  jaws 
of  death  ;  which  I  can  never  forget  while  I  retain  my 
senses.  And  many  a  time  since,  when  my  vicissitudes 
have  pressed  heavily  upon  me,  and  my  sorrows  have 
seemed,  too  weighty  to  bear,  I  remember  my  first 
agonizing  trial,  and  my  FAITH  THEN  ;  and  I  am  angry 
with  myself  for  daring  to  doubt  the  Crod  who  heard  the 
cry  of  the  young  child  upon  the  rock.  Reader,  this 
incident  has  indeed  been  a  foreshadow  of  my  strange 
life :  and,  believe  me,  the  rock  of  virtue  is  hard  to  climb 
in  this  heartless  world,  with  the  dark  abyss  of  poverty 
on  one  side,  and  the  flashing,  gorgeous,  magnificent, 
dangerous  sea  of  temptation  on  the  other  side ;  and 
nothing  but  remembering  the  blessed  precepts  of  a  good 
mother,  and  asking  for  an  increase  of  faith  and  strength 
from  an  all-powerful  God,  has  saved  me  from  falling 
into  the  black  valley  of  destruction  ! 

As  this  is  the  conclusion  of  the  first  part  of  my  little 
book,  and  I  have  been  speaking  of  the  sea  that  had 
nearly  swallowed  me  up,  I  will  insert  a  few  lines  written 
by  my  mother  to  Mr.  Stevens,  the  great  mathematician. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  25 

author  of  "  A  New  Table  of  Tides  ;  "  by  Grace  Boyle, 
late  De  la  Hooke. 

The  tides'  retreat,  the  waters'  ebb  and  flow, 

Their  cause,  their  course,  their  seasons,  thou  canst  know. 

The  moon,  and  he  who  as  her  god  arose, 

Her  light,  her  life,  yet  subject  to  those  laws  <; 

Which  thou  hast  shown  in  sweet  attraction  lies,  — 

The  eclipse,  the  full,  their  settings,  and  their  rise,  — 

All  this  is  clear.     But  the  great  human  tide 

Of  life,  with  all  its  cares,  canst  thou  decide  ? 

Say,  when  at  spring  or  neap,  what  governs  there 

In  love  or  hate,  in  joy  or  in  despair  ? 

And  thou  canst  fathom,  thou  canst  calculate, 

What  can  retard,  or  what  accelerate  ; 

Know  well  what  depth  the  waters  here  or  there  ; 

How  much  depends  on  sea,  how  much  on  air; 

Say  when  the  tide  and  under-currents  meet ; 

Sport  with  the  secrets  of  the  mighty  deep ; 

Know'st  with  exactness  how  the  waters  fill : 

Yet  canst  not  say  how  much  of  good  or  ill 

In  that  small  compass  or  that  point  of  time ; 

How  much  of  pain  or  peace,  or  love  or  crime, 

Commence  or  finish,  flourish  or  decline. 

The  why  and  wherefore  be  it  known  to  thee, 

In  air,  in  earth,  in  ocean,  or  in  sea ; 

But  man's  fixed  fate  or  his  free  agency, 

From  the  first  breath  to  the  last  agony,  — 

Here  all  is  dark,  or  just  but  light  to  show 

That  earth  is  cursed,  and  man  is  born  to  woe. 


26        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

NOTE.  —  Some  persons  have  affected  great  astonishment  at  my 
aristocratic  relatives  not  assisting  me  in  my  arduous  undertaking 
to  provide  for  so  large  a  family.  Do  these  people  recollect  that  a 
certain  powerful  writer,  an  American  lady,  was  left  a  fair  young 
widow  with  two  children,  and  lived  in  poverty  a  long  time ;  and, 
when  she  applied  to  her  brother  to  assist  her  with  his  influence  in 
publishing  an  article  she  had  written,  he  refused  her,  and  left  her 
to  help  herself  as  she  could,  and  a  stranger  brought  her  talents 
before  the  public,  and  she  instantly  met  with  well-merited  success  ? 
However,  when  Gerald  Noel  Hoare,  brother  to  the  banker  in  London, 
and  cousin  to  the  Rev.  Baptist  Noel,  found  out  that  my  grandmother 
was  one  of  the  Aclands,  he  did  assist  me  regularly  every  week,  and 
was  not  ashamed  that  all  his  servants  should  know  I  was  related  to 
him ;  *  and,  during  the  illness  of  my  beloved  mother  and  child,  he 
visited  us  almost  daily,  which  he  continued  up  to  the  last  week  of  my 
stay  in  London,  but  said  all  aid  would  cease  on  my  return  to  Ameri- 
ca. It  is  quite  a  remarkable  fact,  that  all  Old-Country  people  have 
an  idea  that  you  can  get  employment  the  moment  you  ask  for  it 
here.  Do  my  readers  recollect,  that,  at  the  death  of  a  wealthy  man 
recently,  he  left  large  bequests  to  strangers,  yes,  even  titled  men ; 
and  he  an  American  ?  and,  to  my  ocular  knowledge,  there  are  near 
relatives  bearing  his  name,  living  in  Boston,  and  a  short  distance 
from  it,  advanced  in  years,  and  not  ten  dollars  in  reserve ;  and 
we  need  not  travel  far  to  find  hundreds  of  such  unnatural  instances. 
And  again :  people  exclaim,  "  Why  does  not  Mrs.  G.  W.  Horr,  your 
sister  of  Athol,  assist  you  (she  has  never  had  any  children),  and 
your  two  brothers,  one  without  a  child  ?  "  The  only  answer  I  shall 
make  in  this  book  is,  "  My  brother  James  does  not  believe  in  a  God, 
and,  with  the  others,  forgot  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  self-sacri- 


*  He  said  he  felt  proud  to  find  me  so  heroically  battling  and  bearing  my 
poverty,  and  thought  I  did  honor  to  the  blood  of  my  forefathers. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  27 

ficing  women,  their  mother,  in  her  decrepit  old  age ;  never  even 
took  the  trouble  to  write  to  her,  and  never  knew  of  two  frightful 
accidents  that  eventually  caused  her  death."  Header,  wonder  not 
that  these  "good  Samaritans"  forgot  their  sister  ! 


28        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 


CHAPTER  II.' 

With  Two  Solid  Questions  :  First,  Are  we  to  have  Children,  or  not "? 
with  Comments  on  the  Rev.  Dr.  Todd's  Lecture  on  this  Subject, 
entitled,  "  Fashionable  Murders."  Second  Question  :  Where  are  we 
to  put  Children  when  we  get  them  ?  for  every  notice,  where  Apart- 
ments are  to  let,  is  most  emphatic,  "No  Children  taken."  One 
Cause  of  the  Increase  of  Crime. 

THE  Rev.  Dr.  Todd  has  written  two  of  the  finest, 
most  truthful,  and  godlike  lectures  I  ever  read,  — 
one  entitled  "  Fashionable  Murders,"  and  the  other, 
"  A  Cloud  with  a  Dark  Lining."  The  good  man's  ex- 
poundings are  excellent :  his  revelations  with  regard  to 
the  determination  that  the  Americans  evince,  not  to  have 
children,  is  fearfully  true ;  more  especially  among  the 
women.  He  points  out  how,  eventually,  the  wrath  of 
God  will  fall  upon  them  for  defying  his  omnipotent  will. 
All  he  says  is  so  clearly  drawn,  and  so  faithfully  illus- 
trated, that  he  proves  the  holy  bonds  of  marriage  are 
too  often  broken  in  consequence.  Hence  God's  anger 
is  plain  to  be  seen.  He  shows  out  all  these  truths  so 
clearly,  yet  scripturally,  telling  us  to  bear  in  mind  that 
children  are  "  an  heritage  from  the  Lord,"  that  the 
modest  woman  can  read  it,  and,  if  she  is  innocent  of  the 
crime,  without  a  blush  upon  her  cheek. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  29 

I  read  a  very  able  address  delivered  by  Dr.  Nathan 
Allen  of  Lowell,  Mass.,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Social 
Science  Association,  Boston,  entitled  "  Wanted,  More 
Mothers."  He  remarks,  "  that  the  increase  of  population 
for  twenty-five  years  has  been  mainly  in  cities  and 
towns ;  and  it  will  be  found  to  be  largely  made  up  of 
foreign  element:  and  in  the  smaller  villages,  chiefly 
American,  the  stock  has  hardly  increased  at  all."  The 
gentleman  ends  his  lecture  by  saying,  "  that  beneath  all 
the  frivolousness  and  thoughtlessness  which  characterize 
the  fashionable  women  of  America  to-day,  beneath 
that  artificial  and  unhealthy  superficiality  which  has 
been  grafted  upon  them  by  unnatural  and  foreign  influ- 
ences, there  is  still  a  sterling  sense  of  truth  and  right." 

Reader,  as  an  Englishwoman,  I  wish  to  make  a  few 
comments  upon  the  word  "  foreign."  I  never  felt  more 
astonished  in  my  life  than  when  I  first  heard  an  Ameri- 
can call  me  a  foreigner,  —  we,  whom  this  nation  actually 
sprang  from,  and  speaking  our  language  from  the  first 
up  to  the  present  moment.  It  seemed  quite  an  enigma 
to  me.  Now  mark  you,  this  gentleman  contradicts  him- 
self; for  he  first  says  that  the  large  cities  and  towns  are 
principally  propagated  ly  foreigners,  and  then  accuses 
them  of  bringing  these  unnatural  practices  into  the 
country.  Now,  I  think  it  would  only  have  been  fair  for 
him  to  have  defined  the  nation  or  nations :  therefore,  as  he 
has  not  done  so,  I  undertake  to  say  that  it  is  not  the 
English,  Irish,  Scotch,  or  Germans.  Who  then  ?  The 


30        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

French,  whom  the  Americans  fairly  worship.  Had  the 
English  introduced  this  crime  into  the  country,  it  would 
have  been  eschewed  instantly :  for  there  is  a  class  who 
hate  us  most  heartily ;  and  every  thing  to  be  appreci- 
ated must  be  French,  and  from  Paris.  I  said  to  a  New- 
York  editor  a  short  time  since,  "If  there  were  two  bridges 
for  you  to  cross  over  some  dangerous  precipice,  and  an 
Englishman,  out  of  sheer  kindness,  pointed  out  the  safest 
one,  of  his  own  constructing,  you  would  choose  the 
rickety  one,  provided  it  was  made  by  a  Frenchman, 
even  at  risk  of  breaking  your  neck."  He  laughed 
heartily,  and  replied,  "  That's  so." 

When  we  were  living  in  TarifFville,  Conn.,  Mr. 
Thomson  sent  up  a  clerk  to  his  factory ;  and  his  wife 
gave  herself  great  airs.  And  all  the  people  there  said 
she  was  a  perfect  lady,  and  her  manners  were  beautiful, 
they  were  so  French;  and  she  could  speak  French.  My 
husband  and  I  knew  they  were  vulgar  people ;  but  we 
would  have  been  called  jealous  if  we  had  given  our 
opinion.  We  were  nobody  after  this  grand  arrival. 

Reader,  where  do  you  think  the  lady  had  been  brought 
up  ?  —  as  a  chambermaid  in  a  French  hotel.  Remember, 
I  am  speaking  of  your  half-educated  classes,  your  shod- 
dyites;  not  of  the  highly-educated,  intellectual,  and 
polished  American.  Let  me  quote  a  few  lines  writ- 
ten by  one  of  your  whole-souled,  large-brained,  educated 
women,  Miss  Leslie,  who  seems  proud  of  the  Saxon  blood 
in  her  veins.  She  is  describing  her  feelings  on  leaving 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS.  31 

England,  and  looking  forward  to  her  beloved  American 
home.  She  says,  "  While  we  sat  on  the  sofa  in  the  lesser 
cabin,  and  looked  up  through  the  open  skylight  at  the 
stars  that  seemed  flying  over  our  heads,  we  talked  of  the 
land  we  had  so  recently  quitted.  We  talked  of  her 
people,  who,  though  differing  from  ours  in  a  thousand 
minute  particulars,  are  still  essentially  the  same.  Our 
laws,  our  institutions,  our  manners,  and  our  customs  are 
derived  from  theirs.  We  are  benefited  by  the  same 
arts;  we  are  enlightened  by  the  same  sciences;  their 
noble  and  copious  language  is  fortunately  ours.  Their 
Shakspeare  also  belongs  to  us ;  and  we  rejoice  that  we 
can  possess  ourselves  of  his  4  thoughts  that  breathe,  and 
words  that  burn,'  in  all  their  original  freshness  and  splen- 
dor, unobscured  by  the  mist  of  translation.  Though  the 
ocean  divides  our  dwelling-places,  though  the  sword 
and  the  cannon-shot  have  sundered  the  bonds  that  once 
united  us  to  her  dominion,  though  the  misrepresenta- 
tions of  travelling  adventurers  have  done  much  to  foster 
mutual  jealousies,  still  we  share  the  pride  of  our  parent 
in  the  glorious  beings  she  can  number  among  the  chil- 
dren of  her  island-home ;  "  for  "  yet  lives  the  blood  of 
England  in  our  veins." 

In  this  eloquent  effusion,  which  evidently  flows  from  a 
great  and  generous  mind,  how  clearly  we  can  perceive 
Miss  Leslie's  genuine  love  for  her  own  country,  by  being 
proud  to  claim  or  copy  what  is  really  great  from  the 
mother-land !  But  I  must  return  to  my  subject.  The 


32        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

learned  gentleman  goes  on  to  say,  "  We  find  there  are 
absolutely  more  deaths  than  births  among  the  strictly 
American  children :  so  that,  aside  from  immigration,  and 
births  of  children  of  foreign  parentage,  the  propagation 
of  Massachusetts  is  really  decreasing.  Another  fact  de- 
veloped by  report  is,  that  whereas,  in  1765,  nearly  one- 
half  of  the  propagation  of  Massachusetts  was  under  fif-. 
teen  years  of  age,  it  is  believed,  that,  at  the  present 
time,  not  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  purely  American 
population  is  under  that  age.  In  an  equal  number 
of  American  and  foreign  families,  the  births  will  be 
nearly  three  times  as  many  in  the  latter  as  in  the 
former.  In  some  of  the  old  towns,  the  records  of  a 
hundred  years  do  not  show  a  single  instance  of  a 
married  couple  without  children.  The  New- York  cen- 
sus of  1865  shows,  that,  out  of  nine  hundred  and  ninety- 
three  thousand  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  married 
women,  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  forty-five  had  no  children,  and  three 
hundred  and  thirty-three  thousand  only  had  one  or  two. 
In  the  small  town  of  Billerica,  there  are  ninety  families 
with  ten  or  more  children  ;  five  of  these  had  fourteen, 
and  one  twenty-one:  the  total  in  the  ninety  families 
is  ten  hundred  and  ninety-three.  The  birth-rates  show 
that  American  families^  do  not  increase  at  all ;  and  the 
inspection  of  the  registration  in  other  States  shows  that 
the  same  remark  applies  to  all." 

In  another  part  of  his  lecture,  he  thinks  the  brain 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS.  33 

and  nervous  system  has  been  too  highly  developed,  and 
altogether  predominates.  The  effect  of  this  is  seen,  he 
continues,  in  the  intense  headaches  with  which  our 
women  are  now  suffering. 

I  am  sorry  to  differ  with  the  doctor,  who  writes  so  many 
good  and  excellent  things ;  but  ray  opinion  is,  that  the  tight 
manner  the  women  tie  their  hair  back,  stretching  every 
fibre  of  the  scalp,  which  must  be  most  painful ;  then  a  large 
bunch  of  horse-hair,  and  a  switch  resembling  the  tail  of  a 
pony,  is  placed  on  the  top  of  the  head,  which,  of  course, 
must  cause  unnatural  heat,  —  is  chiefly  the  reason  of  the 
headaches  referred  to  at  the  present  time.  I  have  fre- 
quently seen  the  waterfall  larger  than  the  head  itself! 
And  I  much  fear  that  the  chief  mental  agony  of  the 
masses  of  the  young  women  of  the  present  day  is,  who 
shall  have  the  largest  possible  waterfall,  the  smallest 
bonnet,  and  make  themselves  the  greatest  fright. 

Now,  as  these  learned  gentlemen  have  pointed  out  the 
evil  effects  of  defying  God's  holy  ordinance,  showing 
that  it  not  only  undermines  the  woman's  health,  and 
makes  her  prematurely  old,  but  affects  the  temper  of 
the  husband,  that  he  becomes  dyspeptic,  ill-humored,  and 
his  home  any  thing  but  agreeable  to  him,  I  ask  how 
we  are  to  remedy  this  state  of  affairs  ?  My  friends,  it 
must  be  done  by  the  mothers.  I  think  that  mothers 
ought  to  set  to  work  and  talk  to  their  children,  warning 
them  of  the  evils  that  they  dream  not  of;  more  espe- 
cially to  the  young  married  couples,  or  those  contem- 


34        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

plating  marriage.  I  have  frequently  heard  women  say, 
*'  I  don't  mind  having  one  or  two,  but  no  more  for  me." 
When  I  first  heard  these  expressions,  I  thought  it  merely 
a  joke ;  but  eventually  I  found  out  they  meant  what 
they  said,  and  I  was  amazed.  And,  when  these  women 
do  condescend  to'  have  one  or  two  children,  what  sort 
of  a  lifelong  inheritance  are  they  giving  their  offspring  ? 
—  ill-health  even  unto  death.  Frequently  I  come  in  con- 
tact with  women  of  thirty,  and  even  twenty-five,  so  de- 
bilitated, that  they  are  far  more  fit  for  hospitals  than  to  fill 
the  sacred  office  of  either  wife  or  mother.  Sometimes, 
when  I  feel  disheartened  with  a  continuation  of  my  pe- 
culiar trials,  I  remember  these  things,  and  fear  that  I 
have  not  thanked  God  enough  for  the  rich  heritage  my 
parents  left  me  (fine  health),  and  for  giving  me  the  good 
sense  to  make  every  effort  to  preserve  it ;  for  much  de- 
pends upon  ourselves,  whether  our  health  is  good  or  oth- 
erwise. I  am  now  coming  to  the  solution  of  the  ques- 
tion I  just  asked  you  :  Are  we  to  have  children,  or  not  ? 
Now  I  am  a  going  to  ask  you  another  question  :  What 
are  we  to  do  with  them  when  we  get  them  ?  and  where 
are  we  to  put  them  ?  I  feel  quite  certain  that  the 
wealthy  portion  of  the  community,  and  even  those  in 
easy  circumstances,  have  not  the  least  idea  what  poor 
gentility  suffers,  —  ladies  with  decayed  means,  large 
families,  and  small  purses  ;  women  who  have  not  defied 
God's  holy  ordinance,  but  met  it  bravely,  and  accepted 
children  as  an  heritage  from  him,  in  face  of  the  most 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  35 

disheartening  obstacles.  It  is  the  women  whose  earliest 
social  position  was  refinement,  that  suffer  the  most  when 
the  tyrant  poverty  lays  his  iron  grasp  upon  them ; 
not  those  "  born  in  a  garret,  and  in  a  kitchen  bred ;  " 
not  those  who  elbow  and  fight  their  way  through  the 
crowd  for  the  ton  of  coals,  and  the  dollar-a-week  chari- 
ties ;  not  those  who  dress  themselves  for  the  occasion, 
and  go  forth  with  the  doleful  whine  of  begging  upon 
their  lips;  not  those  who  may  have  one  or  ten  chil- 
dren, and  can  get  dwelling-places  at  any  hour  among 
their  fellows.  No,  no !  these  are  not  the  greatest  suf- 
ferers. It  is  the  class,  who,  when  trying  to  get  into 
respectable  houses  in  a  nice  street,  have  the  door  shut  in 
their  faces  when  "  Yes"  is  the  response  to  the  ques- 
tion, "Have  you  any  children?"  It  is  the  high- 
minded,  high-principled  men  and  women,  who  do  not 
wish  to  exceed  their  means,  however  small,  and  put  up 
with  many  a  scanty  meal  to  make  a  genteel  appearance, 
that  are  the  greatest  sufferers. 

I  have  known  women  who  have  walked  day  following 
day,  for  two  weeks,  unable  to  get  a  desirable  place,  un- 
less they  could  afford  to  pay  twenty-five  or  thirty  dollars 
a  month.  But  let  a  finely-dressed  woman  go,  with  a  man 
by  her  side,  * —  no  matter  whether  he  is  her  husband  or 
not ;  that  makes  no  difference :  she  may  call  him  her 
brother,  or  a  very  particular  friend,  —  she  will  be  taken  in 
instantly,  and  no  questions  asked ;  that  is,  if  she  pays 
her  money- down,  and  answers  "No  "  to  the  only  ques- 


36 


THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 


tion,  "  Have  you  any  children  ?  "  Of  course,  there  are 
exceptions  in  this  state  of  affairs,  as  in  every  thing  else ; 
but  rare  indeed  are  they.  Since  I  left  Boston,  three 
years  ago,  I  have  lived  in  furnished  apartments,  in  board- 
ing-houses, and  in  rooms  that  I  furnished  myself:  and, 
out  of  the  six  different  places,  five  had  "  kept  women  "  in 
them  ;  but  they  had  no  children,  and  plenty  of  money. 
It  is  just  the  same  in  Boston.  On  all  the  bills  you  see 
posted  up,  you  will  find  a  most  emphatic  notice,  —  "No 
children  taken."  One  day,  I  counted  seven  places  in 
"  The  Herald."  This  state  of  things  is  one  great  cause 
of  the  "  increase  of  crime."  Had  the  Rev.  Dr.  Todd  said 
that  child- murder*  took  place  only  among  the  genteel 
class  of  poor,  there  would  have  been  a  little  excuse ;  for 
respectable  women,  and  poor  gentlewomen  who  dare  to 
have  children,  are  compelled  to  live  under  the  same 
roof  with  this  fulsome  class,  or  go  in  some  dirty  street 
with  a  grade  of  persons  whose  manners,  tastes,  and  cus- 
toms are  revolting  to  them,  —  persons  who  wonder  what 
they  mean  by  coming  there,  and  look  upon  them  with 
suspicion  ;  and  when  they  find  out  there  is  no  husband 

*  I  am  sorry  to  add,  that  this  crime  is  carried  on  to  the  greatest  extent  among 
the  wealthy.  In  Cambridgeport,  a  medical  lady  informed  me  that  she  was  con- 
tinually applied  to  for  this  purpose,  and  always  refused  in  the  most  decided 
manner;  but,  to  her  knowledge,  one  woman  performed,  on  an  average,  from  a 
hundred  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  cases  in  a  week.  And  yet  churches  abound  in 
this  place  I  In  my  "  Life,"  I  shall  give  a  description  of  these  different  houses 
that  the  world  think  respectable,  judging  from  the  outside.  Dr.  Kent's,  Mrs. 
More's  and  Lewis's  will  figure  most  conspicuously.  This  is  the  only  way  to 
eradicate  degradation,— exposing  itJ 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS.  37 

or  man  in  the  family,  and  that  they  display  no  gossipping 
curiosity  about  their  neighbors'  affairs,  but  keep  their  own 
apartment,  and  that  their  children  are  not  allowed  to  play 
in  the  street,  then,  in  undertones  at  first,  she  is  called  "  the 
grand  lady,"  in  derision,  and  eventually  made  a  very 
u  target "  for  this  herd  to  shoot  their  venomous,  serpent- 
like  tongues  at.  God  help  all  the  poor  !  but,  more  espe- 
cially, those  who  resist  temptation,  —  those  who  cannot 
be  even  starved  into  crime;  those  who  do  not  accept 
the  wages  of  sin ;  those  who,  though  rebellious  at 
times,  through  a  continuation  of  sorrow  look  beyond 
this  world,  and  pray  for  a  continuation  of  faith,  endeav- 
oring with  a  true  Christian  spirit  to  say,  "  Thy  will  be 
done."  This  kind  of  poor  very  few  think  about.  Let 
there  be  houses  built,  with  fine  ventilation,  for  each 
class  of  poor  (as  far  separate  as  possible),  at  moderate 
rents,  and  have  written  in  large  letters,  "  No  persons 
taken  in  this  house  without  children,"  and  there  will 
speedily  be  a  VISIBLE  decrease  in  crime !  I 

NOTE.  —  Speaking  of  having  children  reminds  me  of  a  circum- 
stance that  happened  some  fifteen  years  ago.  I  had  a  letter  of  intro- 
duction to  a  lady  who  wished  to  engage  my  children  to  read  at  a 
party  she  was  about  to  give.  She  received  me  with  an  air  of  melan- 
choly politeness,  at  the  same  time  informing  me  that  the  gathering 
was  postponed,  as  dear  little  Fanny  was  "  real  sick."  I  saw  a  wine- 
glass and  teaspoon  on  the  table  by  the  side  of  the  sofa,  which  had 
a  small  blanket  on  it  bound  with  sky-blue  ribbon^  covering  up  some- 
thing that  I  supposed  to  be  a  sick  child.  I  approached,  and  gently 


38        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

drew  aside  the  blanket.  I  jumped  back  —  it  was  a  poodle-dog, 
whose  black  eyes  winked  at  me  as  if  about  to  cry :  a  sort  of  appeal 
for  sympathy  shone  in  its  glowing  orbs.  I  was  almost  convulsed 
with  laughter,  it  was  so  unexpected.  When  able  to  speak,  I  said, 
"  Pardon  me,  madam,  for  laughing  ;  but  I  thought  it  was  a  baby." 
She  replied  indignantly,  "  Oh,  dear,  no  !  I  never  had  a  baby ;  nor 
I  don't  want  one  either !  "  And  it  would  be  a  blessing,  I  say,  if 
such  women  as  these  never  became  mothers.  When  I  was  a  young 
girl,  and  heard  people  say  they  hated  children,  and  saw  them  fon- 
dling dogs,  and  feeding  kittens  with  a  spoon  because  the  old  cat  was 
too  weak  to  attend  to  so  many,  and  knew,  at  the  same  time,  that 
poor  human  mothers  were  compelled  (just  as  slaves  once  were)  to 
separate  from  their  husbands  and  children  when  poverty  demanded 
that  they  should  go  into  the  "  Union"  or,  rather,  Disunion,  —  I 
say,  when  I  pondered  on  these  things,  thoughts  would  flit  through 
my  mind,  whether,  when  death  severed  the  body  from  the  souls  of 
these  people,  that  their  spirits  were  not  instantly  infused  into  cats 
and  dogs,  and  that  they  came  back  in  those  shapes  as  a  penance 
for  their  brutality  to  mankind,  and  their  loving-ldndness  to  brutes. 
However,  we  never  went  to  the  party.  The  woman  remarked  to 
a  friend,  that  she  thought  me  devoid  of  all  feeling,  to  laugh  at  a 
little,  sick,  innocent  dog. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  39 


CHAPTER  III. 

Shows  the  Evil  Effect  of  Coal  Gas,  Police  Gas,  and  Woman's  Gas, 
with  Two  Solid  Questions:  First,  Is  it  not  the  Love  of  Fame,  in 
Ninety-nine  Cases  out  of  a  Hundred,  that  induces  Women  to  ask 
for  Men's  Rights  ?  Second  Question  :  Ought  We  not  to  cultivate 
Health,  and  make  this  Subject  one  of  the  Chief  Branches  of  Edu- 
cation in  the  Public  Schools?  —  which  would  prove  a  Sure  Step 
towards  decreasing  Crime. 

I  THINK,  after  all  the  lengthy  comments  about  my- 
self and  children  concerning  the  supposed  poison- 
ing case  that  took  place  two  years  ago  last  December,  it  be- 
hooves me,  as  a  duty  I  owe  to  myself,  to  society,  and,  more 
than  either,  to  the  sympathizing  friends  that  tendered 
their  services  and  aided  me  in  that  hour  of  trial,  to  state 
facts.  I  wish  to  show  off  a  few  persons  in  their  true 
colors.  I  wish  to  show  how  fine  dress  and  ditto  furni- 
ture become  mighty,  and  overpowers  right,  be  it  ever  so 
right,  bright  be  a  woman  clad  in  the  seedy  cloak  of pov- 
erty. I  told  you  that  I  am  not  what  is  termed  a  "  wo- 
man's-rights"  woman  ;  but  I  am  for  women  of  every  age, 
grade,  and  color,  being  protected  to  the  uttermost  point 
of  justice.  And  it  is  too  evident,  that  women's  proper 


40        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

rights  are  sadly  neglected  in  the  present  day  :  hence 
one  reason  why  so  many  ladies  are  trying  to  jump  into 
men's  boots  for  protection!  Still,  you  gentlemen  must  not 
laugh  too  much  at  women  who  seek  refuge  in  bloomer 
costume,  as  Jefferson  Davis  is  not  the  first  man  who  has 
sought  protection  in  woman's  petticoats,  boots  and  all ; 
for,  in  olden  times,  several  instances  are  recorded  of  de- 
voted wives  emancipating  their  husbands  from  the  brutal 
tyranny  of  some  despotic  monarch  by  'the  aid  of  a  wo- 
man's dress,  which  clearly  proves  that  we  will  fly  from  op- 
pression to  places,  that,  under  other  circumstances,  would 
be  distasteful  to  us.  As  I  sat  reading  the  different  pa- 
pers, with  their  contradictory  statements  about  us,  I 
thought  how  little  we  can  depend  on  the  news  of  the 
day  from  newspapers,  if  they  usually  recapitulate  and 
represent  them  in  the  manner  that  this  said  affair  has 
been  done.*  One  paper  said  I  had  been  an  actress  of 
celebrity  ;  and  I  was  never  on  the  stage  in  my  life.  I  do 
not  say  this  disparagingly ,  remember,  but  simply  because 
it  is  the  truth  ;  for  I  firmly  believe  there  are  many 
excellent  women  at  this  time  before  the  public  in  that 
capacity,  and  I  finish  a  small  piece  I  wrote  for  one  of 
my  children,  saying, — 

Why  should  a  woman  be  stigmatized  for  going  on  the 

stage  ?  —  more  especially  in  this  enlightened  age,  when 

% 

*  The  depraved  women,  Elliott  and  Smith,  with  their  Confederate  officer, 
Gttlan,  were  the  inventors  of  these  fabrications,  and  took  much  pleasure  in  in- 
forming the  reporters  from  time  to  time,  who,  of  course,  believed  them. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  41 

the  daily  papers  inform  us,  page  by  page,  that  thousands 
are  divorced  who  never  trod  the  stage,  without  poverty, 
and  starving  little  ones  to  tempt  them  to  any  ill,  but 
merely  their  own  OVER-FED  voluptuous  will.  I  say  no 
matter  what  our  calling  may  be  in  our  short  lives,  if  we 
do  our  duty  to  our  children,  and  to  our  husbands  prove 
faithful,  loving  wives. 

But  I  decidedly  would  not  wish  a  daughter  of  mine  to 
receive  her  social  education  from  that  source,  or  cultivate 
her  ideas  of  good  and  evil  from  the  ACTING  of  the  moral 
drama.  George  Stevenson  worked  under  ground  as  a 
miner  in  the  very  noontide  of  his  life  ;  and  eventual- 
ly his  genuis  shone  out  from  beneath  that  grovelling  ob- 
scurity. And,  in  after-years,  he  was  honored  and  re- 
spected by  every  class,  and  has  been  the  guest  of  nearly 
all  the  crowned  heads  in  Europe.  Still,  reader,  neither 
you  nor  I  would  like  to  put  our  children  in  such  a  place 
to  receive  their  education,  either  morally  or  scholastically. 
A  flush  paper  printed  the  most  hideous  pictures  of  us, 
and  stated  that  I  was  far  advanced  in  years,  and  a  poor, 
EMACIATED  looking  creature.  I  WEIGH  ONE  HUNDRED 
AND  SEVENTY-SEVEN  pounds ! !  *  I  am  certainly  some- 


*  In  this  trouble,  there  were  two  ladies  from  the  Fifth  Avenue,  called  Irvin. 
They  went  to  five  different  houses  in  their  carriage,  to  inquire? about  me,  and 
wishing  to  see  me.  A  lady  begged  me,  if  I  did  not  go  myself,  to  let  my  children 
call;  and  I  did.  One  of  them,  on  seeing  Grace  and  Myrtle,  cried  "  Oh,  my  1  you 
are  quite  fat :  I  thought  you  were  almost  skeletons.  Tell  your  mother  to  come 
and  see  us."  I  laughed  heartily  at  the  comments  of  these  Pharisees;  and  you 
may  depend  I  did  not  call,  for  I  felt  certain  that  they  would  have  suggested  my 


42        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,   AND  ITS  CAUSE;    - 

thing  over  forty  years,  but  think,  as  long  as  my  physical 
and  mental  powers  remain  healthy,  I  am  decidedly  not  old. 
I  have  seen  men  and  women  at  sixty,  fine,  hale,  and 
hearty ;  and  I  have  seen  both  sexes  at  twenty-eight  and 
thirty  look  as  if  it  was  high  time  for  them  to  make  their 
WILLS,  if  they  had  any  thing  to  leave.  Health,  in  my 
estimation,  is  beyond  the  wealth  of  the  universe ;  and, 
depend  upon  it,  however  fertile  your  brain  may  be,  health 
will  always  help  to  enrich  the  fruit  that  falls  therefrom. 
On  Friday  evening,  the  13th  of  December,  1867,  I 
walked  from  Amity  Place  to  Thirty-sixth  Street,  with 
Daniel  and  Myrtle,  to  a  temperance  meeting.  He  was 
to  deliver  a  lecture,  and  she  to  sing.  It  was  a  bitter 
night. 

I  had  on  thin  gaiters,  not  fit  for  the  inclement  weather, 
as  the  snow  lay  deep  upon  the  ground.  So  severe  was 
the  night,  that  scarcely  anybody  was  there  ;  and  the 
president  engaged  me  to  address  the  ladies'  meeting  the 
following  Friday.  We  rode  home ;  but  my  feet  were 
wet,  and  I  felt  chilled.  As  I  left  the  car,  I  said,  "  Daniel, 
I  feel  death-struck,"  —  little  dreaming  how  soon  my 
words  were  nearly  verified.  On  entering  my  apart- 
ments, three  in  number,  I  remarked  to  my  children 
what  a  horrible  smell  of  gas  there  was ;  and  I  left  the 
doors  open  for  some  time,  as  we  could  not  raise  the 


exhibiting  myself  at  Barnum's  as  a  fat  woman.  These  creatures,  after  all  their 
parade,  did  not  even  sell  a  ticket  for  my  entertainment  I  gave  at  Steinway 
Hall. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID    QUESTIONS.  43 

windows,  they  were  so  completely  wedged  down  with 
ice.  I  felt  very  ill  all  night.  I  felt  as  if  I  had  been 
beaten  all  over.  I  lay  in  bed  the  next  day  till  noon, 
and  then  told  Daniel  to  take  his  bed  into  the  kitchen, 
and  lay  it  on  a  lounge,  so  that  I  might  be  near  the 
stove,  where  there  was  a  large  fire.  He  then  went  for 
some  hartshorn  and  sweet  oil.  And  after  I  had  been 
rubbed  alternately  by  my  children,  and  covered  up  with 
blankets,  I  dozed  off  to  sleep  ;  and  I  remembered  noth- 
ing more  until,  the  next  day,  I  found  myself  in  the 
Bellevue  Hospital.  It  seems,  that,  when  Daniel  thought 
I  was  asleep,  he  closed  the  door,  and  told  the  other  chil- 
dren not  on  any  account  to  disturb  me.  He  went  out, 
and  brought  home  some  food  for  their  supper,  and  finding 
me  very  comfortably  asleep,  as  he  thought,  took  all  the 
covers  off  the  stove,  and  cooked  the  meat,  but  omitted 
to  put  them  on  again.  After  they  had  finished  eating, 
they  shut  themselves  in  with  me,  and  began  playing 
"  store."  They  all  say  that  they  remember  feeling  very 
sleepy  ;  and  Willie,  my  youngest  child,  came  and  lay  by 
me  on  the  bed,  and  the  others  played  on  the  floor  until 
they  imperceptibly  fell  off  to  sleep.  They  had  a  faint 
recollection  of  hearing  me  moan,  and  trying  to  rise  and 
help  me,  but  could  not.  After  this,  they  remember 
nothing  until  they  found  themselves  surrounded  by 
many  people,  and  two  doctors  with  me,  using  every 
effort  to  restore  me,  without  any  apparent  success.  Dr. 
Perry,  the  first  called  in,  has  told  me  since,  that  full 


44        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

three-quarters  of  an  hour  passed  before  he  saw  the 
slightest  sign  of  animation.  My  appearance  was  quite 
torpid.  Whenever  he  hears  me  laugh,  he  invariably 
remarks,  "  If  anybody  had  told  me  I  would  ever  hear 
you  laugh  so  merrily,  I  would  have  said  it  was  impos- 
sible." Daniel,  Grace,  and  Myrtle  had  their  senses  in 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  with  rubbing  and  air ; 
Willie,  longer  :  but  none  of  my  children,  from  the  first, 
had  the  livid  appearance  that  I  had.  It  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  they  would,  as  I  had  been  in  the  room 
from  Saturday,  12,  A.M.,  until  nearly  2,  A.M.,  on  Sun- 
day, without  air,  —  only  the  opening  and  the  closing  of 
the  door  occasionally.  Willie,  in  struggling  through  the 
suffocation,  had  thrown  one  of  his  legs  across  the  lower 
part  of  the  stove,  in  front  of  the  fire,  and  burnt  it  se- 
verely, which  kept  him  in  the  hospital  for  three  months 
subsequently. 

I  have  no  doubt  some  of  my  readers  remember  (about 
four  years  ago)  of  a  wealthy  family  in  Brooklyn,  who 
had  been  removing,  and  the  hour  being  late,  and  the 
weather  cold,  several  members  slept  in  one  room,  with 
a  stove  in  it ;  and,  to  produce  a  greater  heat,  they  took 
the  lids  off.  In  the  morning,  three  persons  were  found 
dead,  and  the  others  nearly  so.  Each  New-Yorker  that 
I  have  recalled  this  circumstance  to  remembers  it  per- 
fectly well.  The  Rev.  Dr.  McJilton,  of  Baltimore,  stated 
to  me  the  following  fact,  and  has  permitted  me  to  use  his 
name.  A  colored  man-servant  belonging  to  this  gentle- 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  45 

man  slept  in  a  room  detached  from  the  house.  One 
morning,  not  seeing  him,  as  usual,  at  his  work,  he  went 
to  his  room  ;  and,  on  opening  the  door,  he  found  the  man 
apparently  in  the  last  struggles  of  death.  Everybody 
rushed  instantly  to  try  and  relieve  the  sufferer.  Mustard, 
stimulants,  indeed,  every  thing  that  could  be  thought  of, 
was  resorted  to,  and  with  but  little  success.  A  doctor 
was  sent  for  ;  and,  notwithstanding  all  that  was  done,  it 
was  three  weeks  before  he  could  resume  his  usual  em- 
ployment. The  man  informed  the  doctor  that  he  had 
uncovered  the  stove  to  make  the  room  warm,  as  the 
night  was  bitterly  cold.  Since  I  have  returned  to  Bos- 
ton, I  read  in  "  The  Herald,"  "  John  Cornish  and  his 
wife  Bridget,  who  occupy  a  room  at  61  Salem  Street, 
went  to  bed  last  night  with  a  coal-fire  in  the  stove,  leav- 
ing the  outlet-damper  shut,  and  the  cover  off  the  stove. 
Late  in  the  evening,  the  occupants  of  another  room 
heard  groans,  and,  on  going  in,  found  Cornish  on  the 
bed,  and  his  wife  on  the  floor,  —  both  insensible.  Dr. 
McDonald  was  called,  and  restored  the  parties  to  con- 
sciousness, after  some  trouble." 

Such  knowledge  of  the  evil  effects  of  gas  ought  to 
be  a  warning  to  all  of  us.  I  imagine  that  I  suffered 
more  than  many  women  would  have  done  under  the 
same  circumstances,  because  I  have  accustomed  myself, 
all  my  life,  to  partake  very  freely  of  fresh  air,  both  day 
and  night.  I  am  sure  some  persons  have  thought  me  — 
to  use  their  own  term  —  "  crazy"  on  finding  my  window 


46        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

open,  no  matter  how  bitter  the  weather  might  be.  For 
I  always  had  an  instinctive  idea,  without  one  particle 
of  scientific  knowledge,  that  we  require  more  air  when 
asleep,  when  all  our  powers  are  lying  comparatively 
dormant,  than  we  do  when  every  artery  and  muscle  of 
the  body  is  in  action  ;  and,  strange  to  say,  I  found  my 
theory  corroborated,  a  short  time  ago,  in  the  London 
"  Public  Opinion,"  headed,  "  Sleeping-Rooms."  It 
said,  — 

"  The  rooms  we  sleep  in  should  never  shut  out  the 
fresh,  pure  air.  A  sleeping  person  consumes  two  hogs- 
heads of  air  in  an  hour,  —  that  is,  deprives  it  of  all  its 
oxygen,  and  replaces  it  with  carbonic-acid  gas,  which  is 
a  negative  poison  ;  leaving  it  so  destitute  of  life-giving 
property,  that  the  person  breathing  it  will  die  in  a  short 
time,  —  in  an  hour  sometimes.  It  follows,  therefore, 
that,  unless  the  room  be  larger  than  most  of  those  found 
in  dwelling-houses  and  hotels,  there  should  be  thorough 
ventilation." 

"  Currents  of  air,"  says  the  correspondent  of  an 
American  paper,  "  must  be  avoided  :  hence  the  bed 
should  be  so  located  in  the  room,  that  they  may  not 
pass  over  the  sleeper.  If  there  be  a  single  window,  it 
is  often  well  to  raise  the  lower  sash  a  little,  and  lower 
a  few  inches  the  upper  sash.  In  this  way,  the  current 
is  confined  to  the  window,  while  it  keeps  the  air  per- 
fectly fresh." 

So,  reader,  you  perceive  that  my  intuitive  idea,  com- 
bined with  experience,  was  correct. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  47 

Health  is  appreciated  much  more  among  the  English 
(even  sometimes  at  the  expense  of  comfort)  than  the 
Americans,  or,  indeed,  I  may  add,  any  other  nation 
I  have  come  in  contact  with.  If  you  speak  of  some 
new  invention,  even  to  an  ignorant  English  person,  the 
first  inquiry  will  be,  Is  it  healthy  ?  The  hot  air  from 
the  furnace,  that  is  used  almost  wholly  in  this  country, 
I  think  horrible.  I  very  nearly  became  a  wrinkled  old 
woman  in  two  months  from  its  effect.  My  skin  was 
dry,  my  lips  parched,  and  I  had  the  headache,  with  hot 
eyes,  which  alarmed  me ;  for  I  had  never  been  tor- 
tured by  this  terrible  pain  previously,  —  not  ten  times  in 
my  whole  life  !  !  And,  poor  as  I  am,  I  would  not  accept 
a  fine  house,  rent  free,  if,  into  the  bargain,  I  was  com- 
pelled to  have  hot  air,  — so  much  do  I  value  our  health. 
And  I  have  always  tried  to  impress  on  my  children's 
mind,  that  there  are  two  articles  that  neither  the  wealth 
of  Croesus  nor  the  power  of  Midas  can  repurchase  if  once 
lost;  and  these  are  health  and  intellect.  Man  can  ac- 
quire riches,  but  these  two  blessings  come  direct  from 
Grod ;  and  it  ought  to  be  considered  a  religious  duty  to 
preserve  the  one  and  cultivate  the  other.  The  impor- 
tance of  health  ought  to  be  one  of  the  principal  studies 
in  our  public  schools  and  at  home,  instead  of  a  taste  for 
fine  dress  and  jewelry ;  and  then  there  would  be  less 
misery  and  degradation  in  society,  and,  consequently, 
crime  would  decrease. 

While  I  am  on  this  subject  of  health,  which  ought  to 


48        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE. 

be  an  interesting  theme  to  every  man  and  woman,  and 
more  so  to  mothers,  I  will  show  yon  how  the  evil  effects 
of  foul  air  was  made  manifest  once  before  in  my  own 
family.  I  went  to  England  with  six  children,  eighteen 
months  before  the  war  broke  out,  on  a  visit  to  my  aged 
mother.  As  Daniel  was  not  four  years  old,  my  friends 
deemed  it  prudent  for  me  to  leave  two  younger  children 
than  he  in  America ;  for,  by  the  time  I  was  quite  settled 
in  England,  I  would  have  one  still  younger  to  care  for. 
I  have  always  been  paid  tremendous  compliments  by  the 
"faculty"  both  in  London  and  this  country,  about  the 
fine  health  of  my  children,  and  about  their  fine,  broad 
chests,  and  straight,  well-developed  legs  ;  for  almost  all 
medical  men  think  that  the  MOTHER  has  much  to  do  with 
these  things  (s0  do  I).  I  left  two  of  these  fine  speci- 
mens of  American-born  children  in  this  country  ;  and 
I  was  frequently  both  pained  and  astonished,  while  in 
England,  to  learn  that  my  babies,  more  or  less,  were 
always  suffering  from  some  kind  of  illness,  and  that 
medical  aid  had  to  be  called  to  attend  to  them.  I  did 
not  return  at  the  appointed  time,  as  my  husband  wrote 
there  was  a  rumor  of  war,  and  that  I  had  better  remain 
where  I  was  until  he  heard  what  was  likely  to  be  the 
issue  of  the  report.  We  all  know  what  the  report  ended 
in ;  and  I  did  not  return  to  the  States  until  I  heard  of 
my  husband's  death  in  the  Union  army.  Then  I  deter- 
mined to  come  over  for  my  children.  I  had  been  away 
nearly  six  years ;  and  God  only  knows  how  I  yearned 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  49 

to  embrace  them.  And  when  I  beheld  the  two  living, 
livid  skeletons  that  were  put  before  me  as  mine,  I  thought 
I  would  have  fainted.  I  was  speechless.  I  do  not  wish 
my  readers  to  be  impressed  with  the  idea  that  these 
children  had  been  maltreated  by  the  persons  with  whom 
I  had  left  them,  but  simply  of  the  people's  utter  igno- 
rance that  fresh  air  is  of  as  much  importance  to  chil- 
dren's health,  as  wholesome  food,  fine  out-door  exercise, 
and  retiring  at  an  early  and  regular  hour  is,  to  all  young 
people  who  wish  to  lay  the  foundation  to  a  fine  consti^ 
tution.  When  I  saw  the  room  that  my  children  had 
slept  in,  I  no  longer  marvelled  that  my  two  little  girls, 
whom  I  had  left  looking  as  if  Hygeia  presided  over 
them,  were  turned  into  shadows.  Every  thing  was 
scrupulously  clean,  but  scarcely  any  ventilation. 

The  confined  atmosphere  in  these  dark  bed-rooms* 
usually  found  in  tenant-houses,  if  not  speedily  improved; 
upon,  or,  rather,  removed  entirely,  will  be  a  frightful 
barrier  to  the  working-classes  keeping  in  fine  health,  — . 
the  very  men  who  most  require  physical  power,  conse- 
quently can  least  afford  to  lose  it.  Stalwart  men,  with: 
herculean  strength,  will  soon  droop,  unless  they  are 
allowed  to  have  their  houses  more  fitted  to  receive  the 
fine  air  and  the  refreshing  and  bracing  breeze  that  God 
disseminates  throughout  the  universe  for  all  mankind, 
whether  the  poor  woman,  with  her  iron  crook,  who  rakes 


*  These  people  paid  seventeen  dollars  a  month  for  their  rooms, 
4 


50       THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

every  morning  for  cinders,  or  the  fine  lacty  riding  in  her 
carriage  ornamented  with  gold.  And  the  public  know  of 
the  existences  of  these  evils  for  years  past,  and  still  permit 
landlords  to  build  the  same  kind  of  houses;  and  people 
flock  into  them,  simply  because  they  have  no  choice.  I 
wish  some  of  you  women's-rights  women  would  stir  this 
question  up  in  your  club-rooms.  My  children  have  been 
with  me  now  six  years,  and  during  that  time  I  have  not 
had  a  medical  man  to  either  of  them  ;  and,  although 
they  do  not  yet  look  as  plump  and  robust  as  they  once 
did,  it  is  impossible  for  them  to  be  in  finer  health  than 
they  are  at  this  moment.  Fine  appetites,  fine  lungs, 
fine  DIGESTIVE  powers  :  in  fact,  the  LATTER  organs  are  in 
such  fine  order  that  their  food  is  oftentimes  digested  be- 
fore I  have  the  means  to  REPLENISH  the  vacuum  !  These 
illustrations  will  clearly  demonstrate  to  thinking  women, 
that,  when  we  become  mothers,  our  chief  study  should 
be  the  health  and  education  of  those  whom  God  has 
permitted  us  to  bring  into  life.  I  cut  out  a  piece  from 
a  paper  a  short  time  since,  headed  "  Our  Children."  It 
said,  "  The  subject  of  rearing  children  is  of  more  conse- 
quence than  of  gaining  honor,  distinction,  or  wealth. 
It  outweighs  all  others.  It  ought  to  be  studied  more 
deeply  than  any  profession  or  business.  We  ought  to 
be  more  interested  in  it  than  in  any  thing  else  we  do. 
We  must  produce  a  revolution  in  this  matter.  Rearing 
children  must  be  made  a  study.  Nothing  can  be  so 
interesting  or  instructive.  The  father  or  the  mother 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  51 

who  knows  how  to  properly  rear  and  educate  a  family 
is  greatly  wiser  than  any  professor."  I  agree  with  every 
word  of  these  sentiments,  and  would  like  to  know  the 
author. 

When  I  say  education,  I  am  not  speaking  of  scho- 
lastic education  ;  for  I  have  known  persons  thoroughly 
educated  who  had  no  idea  how  to  impart  their  knowl- 
edge to  others.  This  talent  is  a  natural  power,  and 
without  it  I  would  never  allow  a  man  or  woman  to  be- 
come a  teacher,  if  I  had  my  will  in  the  matter.  It  is 
too  often  the  incapability  of  the  teacher  that  makes 
children  dread  going  to  school ;  for  a  great  portion  of 
them  take  no  interest  in  their  work.  They  give  children 
five  or  six  long  lessons  to  learn  verbatim,  of  which  they 
don't  understand  one-half,  although  they  may  be  perfect 
to  the  letter;  and  many  tractable  and  intelligent  chil- 
dren shed  the  bitterest  tears  over  this  mode  of  being 
educated  !  First  make  the  children  good  readers.  Let 
the  teacher  read  with  them,  and  explain  as  they  go  on, 
and  they  will  find  out,  at  the  end  of  three  months,  the 
children  will  know  more  of  the  sense  of  the  matter  that 
they  have  been  reading  about  than  they  would  in  a  year 
by  making  them  learn  by  heart.  I  know  this  by  experi- 
ence. I  have  tried  both  plans.  But,  as  I  just  now 
remarked,  I  am  not  speaking  of  scholastic  education  to 
mothers.  I  am  speaking  of  the  social  education  of  the 
heart,  and  of  the  training  of  the  principles  of  their  chil- 
dren, and  the  expanding  of  their  minds.  These  occupa- 


52       THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,   AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

tions  are  far  more  befitting  women  than  VOTING  at  poll- 
stands,  pleading  in  laiu-courts,  or  holding  forth  in  club- 
rooms!  Home  is.  the  proper  place  for  mothers.*  No 
person  knows  this  fact  better  than  I  do.  I  would  like 
some  of  these  women  to  know  (if  it  is  possible  for  them 
to  feel)  the  agony  a  true  mother  must  suffer  to  leave 
babes  a  month  old  on  the  breast  of  a  stranger,  and  go 
hundreds  of  miles  AWAY  to  earn  food  for  them!  I  would 
like  some  of  these  women  to  know  what  it  was  to  leave 
a  darling  child  on  her  last  bed  to  go  over  London  Bridge 
on  a  snowy  night  in  December,  to  give  an  entertainment, 
that  she  should  have  all  she  wanted  ;  and  her  crying, 
"Where's  mamma?"  Oh!  I  am  so  disgusted  with 
these  unnatural  women  !  Poverty  compelled  me  to  suc- 
cumb; but  was  I  not  out  of  my  sphere?  Oh,  yes  !  re- 
sponds every  CHRISTIAN  MOTHER. 

It  is  fame  such  women  are  rushing  after,  and  not  to 
ameliorate  the  condition  of  their  less  fortunate  sisters. 


*  A  lady  who  writes  a  long  communication  to  "  The  St.  Paul  Press,"  in  op- 
position to  female  claims  for  the  ballot,  growing  very  enthusiastic  towards 
the  close,  breaks  out  into  parodic  poetry,  of  which  the  following  verse  is  a  cap- 
ital specimen :  — 

"  The  '  vote '  that  all  are  praising 

Is  not  the  vote  for  me : 
Its  claims  are  so  amazing, 

I'd  rather  far  be  free. 
But  there's  a  vote  in  yonder  crib, 
A  baby-vote,  cjear,  shrill,  and  glib : 
Tliat  vote  is  worth  the  raising; 
And  that's  the  vote  for  me ! 
Oh,  that's  the  vote  for  me ! " 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  53 

This  thirst  for  fame,  in  some  people,  is  not  to  be 
quenched  ;  and  too  often  both  men  and  women  are  no- 
ticed in  the  most  flattering  manner,  that  really  do  not  de- 
serve it.  This  knowledge  gave  me  the  ideas  that  headed 
an  article  of  mine,  two  years  ago,  in  a  Boston  paper,  on 
the  poverty  in  England,  entitled  "  The  Brute  and  the 
Man." 

Fame,  fame,  courted  fame  I 

After  all  thou'rt  but  a  name 

That  many  miscreants  do  claim, 

Who  should  have  worn  an  IRON  chain. 

One-half  the  men  called  philanthropic, 

Whose  every  deed  and  saying  is  made  the  topic 

From  rostrums,  pulpits  of  the  day, 
Should  some  of  their  deeds  be  brought  to  light, 
We'd  scarcely  bear  them  in  our  sight, 

But  SHRINK  FROM  them  away. 

I  have  seen  life  in  all  its  phases,  and  I  have  mixed 
with  women  of  every  grade  and  position  ;  that  is,  I  mean 
I  have  come  in  contact  with  them.  Lavater  says,  that, 
whatever  class  we  mix  among,  we  look  like  them  after 
a  time,  /differ  from  him, — not  after  the  mind  is  formed ; 
and,  before  we  assimilate  in  our  outward  appearance, 
there  must  be  a  congeniality  internally.  I  have  mixed 
with  rich  and  poor,  wicked  and  good,  with  the  educated 
and  the  ignorant :  and  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion, 
after  close  observation,  that  the  frailties  of  humanity 
are  as  deeply  rooted  in  one  class  as  in  the  other,  when 


54       THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

the  heart  is  naturally  depraved ;  and  the  high  and  the 
low  are  more  nearly  allied  than  we  generally  think.* 
Who  is  it  that  dresses  the  unfortunate  women  in  the 
street? — The  higher  classes!  Who  is  it  furnishes  the 
gorgeous  houses  of  depravity?  —  The  higher  classes! 
Who  is  it  that  can  sell  and  buy  rum  with  impunity?  — 
The  higher  classes !  I  know  people  that  laugh  at  the 
prohibitory  law,  just  passed  in  Boston,  and  can  pur- 
chase gallons  with  impunity,  because  they  have  wealth  ; 
and  poor  Biddy  O'Flanigan  or  Mike  Flinn  will  be 
made  to  pay  for  daring  to  infringe  upon  the  law  by 
selling  one  glass  I  O  most  noble  law  !  Well  may  Ward 
Beecher  exclaim  from  his  pulpit,  "  Justice  stinks  !  "  I 
would  admire  the  law  that  does  away  with  this  traffic, 
if  it  was  universal,  but  not  when  it  confines  itself  to  the 
poorer  classes  only.  This  fact  renders  it  detestable. 

A  good  standing  in  society,  good  breeding,  and  a  good 
education,  with  plenty  of  money,  too  frequently  hide 
deeds,  that,  if  perpetrated  by  the  poor  uncultured  man, 
are  laid  bare  to  the  public  eye  in  all  their  revolting 
hideousness.  We  have  our  women's-rights  women  in 
every  grade,  —  among  our  Bettys  and  our  Bridgets, 
our  ladies  and  our  working-girls,  —  women  who  say, 
u  I'll  let  you  know  who's  master  here,"  and  order  men 
in  the  shape  of  husbands  about  as  if  they  were  dogs  ; 

*  Still,  with  all  my  experience  and  mixings,  I  must  candidly  acknowledge 
my  preference  to  come  in  contact  with  refined  wickedness,  rather  than  the 
uncultured  brute. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID    QUESTIONS.  55 

and,  for  a  quiet  life,  the  TAME  creature  obeys,  and  barks 
not.  There  are  thousands  of  such  "STRONG-MINDED" 
ladies  in  every  class,  showing  that  these  sentiments  are 
not  all  indicative  of  either  high  intellect,  high  breeding, 
or  in  any  way  of  womanly  superiority.  This  thirsting 
for  supremacy,  fame,  and  mens  rights,  is  to  be  found 
among  the  high  and  the  LOW,  revealing  to  us,  that  behind 
the  screens  of  wealth,  education,  and  rank,  dwells  t\\epoor, 
.frail  human  mind,  —  in  the  millionnaire  just  as  in  the 
beggar,  —  showing  that  TRUE  MOTHERS  are  required  TO- 
DAY far  more  than  ballot ! 

I  know  women  who  have  been  thirsting  for  fame 
all  their  lives  as  authoresses,  and  have  received  the 
required  adulation  from  a  certain  class ;  and,  although 
they  have  grown  old  and  gray,  they  thirst  on  for  "  more 
fame,"  and  it  would  have  been  a  charity  to  the  public 
if  all  they  had  written  had  been  burnt  instead  of  print- 
ed. I  have  been  at  parties  among  the  elite,  and  I  have 
seen  the  lady  who  invited  me  in  an  agonizing  state  of 
mind  because  she  had  heard  that  Mrs.  P.'s  soiree  was 
more  crowded  than  hers,  and  that  the  rich,  reigning 
belle  of  the  season  was  there,  who  had  declined  her  invi- 
tation. "  More  fame!"  I  have  seen  a  woman  sur- 
rounded by  every  luxury,  sometimes  pacing  the  room, 
then  sitting  swaying  herself  back  and  forward,  and  tap- 
ping her  foot  on  the  floor,  apparently  suffering  from 
some  heart-rending  trouble,  just  as  I  have  seen  some  be- 
reaved widow  do ;  and,  upon  inquiring  the  cause,  I 


56        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

found  out  it  was  the  state  of  wretched  uncertainty  she 
was  in,  not  yet  having  decided  what  DRESS  she  should- 
wear  to  the  opera  !  because  she  was  famed  for  her  superb 
wardrobe,  and  thirsted  for  fame,  —  more  fame! 

I  never  felt  prouder  than  when  I  perceived,  as  my 
daughters  approached  womanhood,  their  utter  distaste 
to  public  life,  notwithstanding,  when  they  appeared,  the 
principal  American,  London,  Edinburgh,  and  Toronto 
papers  spoke  more  highly  of  their  genius  *  than  my 
fondest  hopes  had  ever  anticipated.  The  late  Gen. 
Morris  heard  them  at  Gen.  Scott's,  and  a  few  days 
after,  in  his  "  Home  Journal,"  wrote  a  most  flattering 
criticism  on  their  powers  as  readers  from  the  "  mighty 
Bard,"  and  pronounced  them  u  patterns  for  children  of  a 
larger  growth."  In  New  York  for  years  they  read  at 
all  the  principal  schools,  two  or  three  times  each  season 

*  "  The  New- York  Tribune,"  in  a  long  article  at  the  time  of  the  gas  catas- 
trophe, said,  "  Daniel,  Grace,  Myrtle,  and  William  were  genteel,  •well-bred,  and 
sweet-mannered  children.  Daniel's  features  were  singularly  intelligent;  his 
declamatory  powers  were  extraordinary;  and,  when  he  recited  from  Shakspcare, 
his  young  face  became  beautiful  with  a  precocious  comprehension  of  the  author's 
meaning.  The  Httle  girls  sang  sweetly,  and  were  much  caressed.  Thoy  are  the 
brothers  and  sisters  of  the  distinguished  lBoone  children,'1  who  some  years  ago 
flashed  in  triumph  through  the  United  States,  evoking  admiration  from  the 
most  critical  auditors,  and  caustic  pens."  A  few  days  before  we  went  to  Eng- 
land, in  185S,  my  two  daughters  gave  a  farewell  reading.  "  The  New-York 
Times,"  after  speaking  highly  of  the  whole,  ended  by  saying,  "  We  never  heard 
Willis's  '  Leper '  read  so  perfectly  as  it  was  by  Lora  Gordon  Boone."  She  was 
thirteen  years  of  age  at  that  time.  I  wish  my  readers  to  know,  that,  notwith- 
standing the  precocious  relish  God  gave  my  children  for  this  sublime  art,  they 
retained  all  the  joyous  glee  and  freshness  of  happy  childhood,  which  kept  the 
bloom  upon  their  cheeks,  and  a  healthy  sparkle  in  their  eye. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  57 

at  each  school ;  and,  when  in  Toronto,  the  Lady  May- 
oress sang  for  me,  the  Hon.  Mrs.  Vancouglmet  played 
the  piano  for  me,  and  Mrs.  Davison  Murrie  had  a  stage 
erected  in  her  drawing-room,  and  the  very  elite  were 
there ;  and  my  cousin,  Anna  Otter,  wrote  to  her  father, 
the  Rev.  James  De  la  Hooke  (referred  to  before) ,  in  Eng- 
land, that  she  had  never  known  "  public  people  "  taken 
such  notice  of  in  Toronto  before.  All  the  first  families 
called  on  me ;  and  the  colonel  of  one  of  the  stationary 
regiments  there  sent  a  portion  of  his  band  to  perform  at 
my  entertainment. 

In  Washington,  these  little  girls  read  before  the 
President,  Mrs.  Pierce,  and  Cabinet.  Fremont  pre- 
sented them  with  a  beautiful  bouquet.  And,  at  another 
time,  Bancroft,  after  hearing  them  in  Broadway,  New 
York,  came  forward,  giving  them  some  beautiful  flow- 
ers, and,  taking  their  hands,  said,  "  My  sweet  little  girls, 
I  never  heard  any  thing  like  you."  The  day  following, 
"The  Herald"  remarked,  that  "the  Chinese  Assembly 
Rooms  were  crowded  with  a  most  fashionable  audience, 
chiefly  ladies,  to  listen  to  the  reading  of  those  phenom- 
ena, '  The  Boone  Children  ; ' : '  and  I  could  name  hun- 
dreds of  such  instances  of  such  attentions,  as  we  passed 
through  the  States. 

While  my  children  were  before  the  public,  they  had 
two  hundred  and  ten  elegant  books  presented  them  ;  and 
rings,  bracelets,  lockets,  were  sent  continually.  I,  being 
their  sole  teacher,  of  course  felt  flattered.  Yet  I  was 


58        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

glad  to  find  all  that  I  had  tried  to  impress  upon  their 
childish  minds  had  taken  deep  root ;  and  they  thought, 
with  ME,  that  a  woman  never  looks  so  lovely,  so  truly 
great,  so  fascinating,  and  so  really  beautiful  and  useful, 
as  when  in  her  OWN  house,  surrounded  by  her  children, 
giving  them  what  instruction  she  is  capable  of,  or  devis- 
ing some  plan  of  intellectual  entertainment.  Depend 
on  it,  men  and  women,  that  this  is  the  GRANDEST  position 
in  this  terrestrial  world  for  a  WOMAN,  and  this  home-audi- 
ence is  nearer  and  sweeter  to  the  affectionate  heart  of  a 
mother  whose  brain  is  properly  developed  than  all  the 
applause  and  flatteries  that  the  outer  world  can  bestow. 
It  is  among  the  household  congregation  where  woman's 
influence  can  achieve  so  much,  and  reign  paramount ;  not 
the  court-room,  the  pulpit,  nor  the  rostrum. 

There  is  much  we  women  can  do  for  society  without 
being  lawyers,  parsons,  soldiers,  sailors,  railroad-conduct- 
ors, firemen,  engineers,  street-pavers,  or  coal-carriers; 
and  I  affirm  that  all  women  who  want  the  privilege  of 
men,  each  of  them  according  to  their  education,  should 
be  made  to  accept  one  of  these  prominent  positions.  I 
approve  of  women-doctors,  not  from  affectation  and 
mock-modesty ;  for  I  decidedly  think  there  was  more  of 
this  genuine  and  beautiful  trait  of  manly  and  womanly 
purity  in  our  grandmothers'  days  than  in  the  present  age. 
But  I  am  of  opinion,  that  when  women  understand 
anatomy,  and  become  aware  of  the  evil  effects  that  the 
present  mode  of  treatment  has  on  their  system,  and  how 


WITH  A   FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  59 

antagonistic  many  of  the  present  customs  are  to  fine 
health,  we  will  have  in  another  generation  or  two  prop- 
QY\J -developed  women,  who  will  not  be  afraid  that  hav- 
ing children  will  make  them  look  or  feel  older,  but  add 
to,  rather  than  take  from,  their  youthful  appearance.  It 
seems  to  me  that  some  of  the  women  of  the  present  day 
would  like,  if  they  knew  how,  to  turn  the  world  upside 
down,  and  inside  out,  before  the  time  decreed  that  it  shall 
come  to  pass.  For  more  than  twenty  years,  this  "  wo- 
man's-rights  question  "  has  been  agitated,  and  with  no 
good  results,  but  making  many  weak-minded  females 
discontented  with  their  lot.  Grace  Darling  did  not  ask 
to  have  woman's  rights  because  she  did  a  noble  deed 
and  actually  a  manly  service,  and  acted  as  greatly  and 
as  bravely  as  ever  mortal  did  on  earth,  as  ever  General 
did  on  the  battlefield  covered  with  the  gory  wounded. 
and  the  dead.  She  faced  death  with  no  mortal  power 
near  to  aid  her.  How  truly  she  exemplified  her  philan- 
thropy !  and  how  firm  must  her  faith  have  been  in  God's 
omnipotent,  omnipresent,  eternal  power  !  And  yet,  when 
her  pious  efforts  were  successfully  accomplished,  and 
hundreds  of  the  highest  classes  were  rushing  to  see 
her,  she  shrank  from  public  notice,  and  became  the 
reserved,  basJtful  maiden  again  !  What  true  woman,  who 
has  read  the  Lives  of  St.  Margaret  of  Scotland,  and  St. 
Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  those  sweetest  of  women,  those 
purest  of  saints,  but  must  feel  proud  of  belonging  to  their 
sex  ?  —  daughters  of  a  regal  race,  and  wives  of  heroes, 


60        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

who  attended  on  lepers,  and  administered  to  their  wants 
with  a  mother's  tenderness,  their  fair  hands  performing  of- 
fices that  their  own  mothers  shrank  from  in  disgust.  I  was 
told  by  a  friend,  that  Mrs.  Abbot  of  Philadelphia,  a 
Quaker  lady,  had,  to  her  knowledge  from  her  pure 
Christianly  love  for  her  sisters  in  affliction,  like  a  minis- 
tering angel,  risen  hundreds  from  the  depths  of  poverty 
who  were  verging  into  crime,  and  many  who  had  fallen 
from  woman's  high  estate,  and  guided  them  up  once 
again  into  the  path  of  rectitude  and  honor.  And  all 
these  deeds  of  mercy  were  done  in  secrecy,  and  never 
blazoned  before  the  public.  This  was  the  beautiful  char- 
ity Solomon  meant  when  he  said,  "  He  that  hath  mercy 
on  the  poor  lendeth  to  the  Lord."  When  I  was  in 
London  last,  I  saw  a  superb  engraving  of  Mrs.  Frye's  first 
visit  to  Newgate.  There  she  sat,  with  her  Bible  in 
her  hand,  surrounded  by  one  MASS  of  human  degrada- 
tion, each  gaping  visage  deeply  stamped  with  vice  of  long 
standing,  which  makes  it  more  hideous  to  behold.  And 
yet  her  sweet  and  gentle  voice  subdued  the  very  women 
who  had  been  most  OBDURATE  ;  women  who  had  actually 
fought  with  their  keepers.  How  beautifully  these  holy 
traits«of  female  character  prove  to  us  that  the  really 
great  are  usually  the  most  retiring,  and  thirst  not  for 
fame  !  Florence  Nightingale,  who  sacrificed  her  health 
for  the  love  she  bore  her  race,  and  has  been  for  nine 
years  confined  to  her  room,  caused  by  the  hardships 
she  encountered  at  the  "  Crimean  War,"  is  still  work- 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  61 

ing  faithfully  and  earnestly  to  carry  out,  to  the  end 
of  her  self-denying  life,  the  mighty  work  that  she  feels 
Crod  has  decreed  she  shall  finish.  Noble  woman  !  She 
does  not  thirst  for  the  unquenchable  water  called  Fame 
in  this  world,  but  only  the  holy  water  of  life  that  Christ 
has  left  in  one  large  baptismal  stream  to  his  followers,  to 
carry  them  safely  away  from  this  rugged  world  into  the 
vast  sea  of  eternity.  And  America  can  claim  HER  share 
of  great  women,  who  showed  their  true  heroism  during 
the  Revolution  of  '76  without  asking  to  have  MEN'S 
'riyhts,  although  they  actually  did  men's  work.  But  it 
was  for  their  country,  their  husbands,  and  their  children; 
not  because  they  wished  to  go  out  of  their  sphere.  And 
glad  enough  were  these  NOBLE  SPECIMENS  of  WOMAN- 
HOOD to  go  back  into  their  homes  again,  where  they 
could  calmly  enjoy  their  domestic  associations. 

How    beautifully    Schiller    describes    this    love    of 
fame !  — 

"  What  shall  I  do  lest  life  in  silence  pass  ?  " 

"  And  if  it  do, 
And  never  prompt  the  bray  of  noisy  brass^ 

What  needst  thou  rue  ? 
Remember,  aye,  the  ocean-deeps  are  mute, 

The  shallows  roar : 
"  Worth  is  the  ocean  ;  fame  is  but  the  bruit 

Along  the  shore." 
"  What  shall  I  do  to  be  forever  known  ?  " 

"  Thy  duty  ever." 

"  This  did  full  many  who  yet  slept  unknown." 
"  Oh,  never,  never !  " 


62        THE  INCREASE  OF  CHIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

"  Tkink'st  tliou,  perchance,  that  they  remain  unknown 

Whom  tliou  know'st  not  V 
By  angel  trumps  in  heaven  their  praise  is  blown  ; 

Divine  their  lot." 

"  What  shall  I  do  to  gain  eternal  life  ?  " 
>        "  Discharge  aright 

The  simple  dues  with  which  each  day  is  rife ; 

Yea,  with  all  thy  might.  / 

Ere  perfect  scheme  of  action  thou  devise, 

Will  life  be  fled; 

While  he  who  ever  acts  as  conscience  cries 
Shall  live,  though  dead." 

NOTE  OIT  HEALTH.  —  Some  persons  exclaim,  "Night-air  is 
bad,  I  tell  you  1 "  What  a  stupid  speech !  How  can  we  have 
day-air  at  niyht  ?  and  must  we  not  have  air  ?  My  father  had  his 
children  taken  out  the  day  after  birth  ;  and  we  were  all  remark- 
able for  our  health.  When  I  became  a  mother,  Mr.  Boone  agreed 
•with  me,  that,  if  children  required  the  open  air  the  day  after  they 
enter  this  world,  they  needed  it  quite  as  much  the  first  day  ;  and 
my  nine  children  that  lived  were  taken  into  the  air  the  first  day 
they  saw  the  light.  Two  out  of  the  other  three  died  before  they 
left  the  room.  Lora  Gordon  was  born  on  the  1st  of  December,  at 
half-past  three,  A.M.  ;  and  at  eight  o'clock  she  was  out!  The  nurse 
refused  to  take  the  child  in  the  air ;  but  my  servant  obeyed  me. 
And  no  human  being  ever  looked  more  like  Hygeia  HERSELF  than 
this  child.  She  was  the  first  of  my  children  that  appeared  as  an 
infant  prodigy ;  and  the  "  busy-bodies  "  were  constantly  exclaim- 
ing, "  O  Mrs.  Boone,  you'll  kill  that  child  ! "  and  she  looking  like 
the  freshest  of  roses.  I  used  to  reply,  "  Take  care  of  your  own 
wan,  sickly  children,  and  I'll  attend  to  mine  !  "  —  and  I  did.  I 
have  many  a  time,  since  she  was  a  woman,  insisted  that  she  should 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  63 

wash  her  pink  checks  to  show  doubtful  persons  they  were  painted 
by  Nature,  and  not  by  "  The  Bloom  of  Youth,"  sold  in  drug-stores. 
All  my  plans  of  rearing  children  succeeded  well.  My  daughters 
were  just  such  girls  as  Fanny  Fern  hopes  the  next  generation  will 
be, —  fine,  full-chested,  large-brained  women,  able  to  walk,  and  able 
to  eat,  and  without  one^  atom  of  affectation.  Mothers,  never  be 
frightened  at  fresh  air.  Gordon's  first  child  at  nine  months'  old 
weighed  twenty-eight  pounds.  So  you  observe  that  being  taken 
out  at  five  hours  old,  in  December,  and  subsequently  appearing  as  a 
Liliputian  reader  from  Shakspeare,  did  not  kill  her,  as  my  sweet 
friends  prognosticated.  Fresh  air  and  cold  water  *  (both  internally 
and  externally)  will  keep  wrinkles  away  longer  than  any  other  ap- 
plication on  earth.  I  am  a  good  specimen  of  this  truth ;  for  I  am 
ALWAYS  taken  for  ten  years  younger  than  I  am,  and  very  fre- 
quently fifteen.  And,  when  I  have  had  my  numerous  family 
around  me,  I  have  actually  had  to  swear  they  were  mine,  —  so 
youthful  was  my  appearance.  Whenever  I  see  the  slightest  sem- 
blance of  a  wrinkle,  I  commence  in  the  most  vigorous  manner  with 
cold  water  five  or  six  times  a  day  till  they  disappear.  Remember 
this,  young  ladies :  begin  at  once. 

*  Tea  I  have  found  a  most  refreshing  beverage.  I  have  drunk  very  strong 
tea  for  twenty-nine  years.  It  agrees  with  me,  although  some  people  protest 
against  it. 


64       THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 


CHAPTER   IV. 

Contains  a  Few  More  Ideas  of  the  Power  that  True  Women  possess  to 
disseminate  Good  without  asking  for  Men's  Rights,  and  One  Solid 
Question  :  Did  God  mean  Man  and  Woman  to  follow  the  Same 
Vocation,  or  to  be  co-equal  ?  No.  My  Reason  for  it. 

I  HAVE  mixed  with  women,  wealthy  and  poor,  in 
private  life,  whose  glowing  goodness  sent  forth  hap- 
piness everywhere,  — just  as  the  rose  does  its  delicious 
odor,  wherever  it  may  be  planted,  whether  in  the  cot- 
'tage-garden  or  the  ricli  man's  conservatory,  — generous, 
lovely,  and  intellectual ;  and,  although  they  were  never 
publicly  heard  of,  these  qualities  were  felt,  not  only  by 
those  whom  Nature  has  taught  to  fly  to  them  to  be 
soothed  in  their  childish  sorrow  or  manly  grief,  but  by 
ALL  their  surroundings,  from  the  servants  up  to  their 
nearest  and  dearest  friend,  their  husbands  ;  women  who 
do  not  want  to  impress  you  that  they  possess  either  the 
sublimity  of  an  angel,  or  the  powerful  intellect  of  a  great 
man,  and  are  not  ashamed  of  being  only  women.  It 
is  such  women  as  these  that  have  sent  forth  our  great 
men,  —  men  whose  grand  actions  and  mighty  deeds  are 
known  all  over  the  world,  and  will  be  forever  remem- 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID    QUESTIONS.  65 

berecl ;  and  in  reading  their  lives  you  will  generally  find 
that  they  had  true  women  for  mothers.  For  as  I  re- 
marked in  a  lecture  I  delivered  twice  in  Tremont  Tem- 
ple, entitled  "An  Appeal  to  Mothers,  on  Taste,"  "  G-ood 
men" — for  no  man  can  be  great  unless  he  is  good:  a 
man  may  be  a  great  politician,  a  great  artist,  a  great 
poet,  &c.  ;  but,  unless  he  combines  goodness,  he  is 
simply  the  great  politician,  the  great  artist,  the  great 
poet,  but  not  the  great  man  that  G-od  meant  him  to  be, 
— "  Good  men,  I  say,  in  speaking  of  their  earliest 
thoughts,  feelings,  sentiments,  and  actions,  will  with 
pride  recount  that  their  highest,  holiest,  and  most  lasting 
impressions  were  inculcated  by  their  mothers.  How- 
proud  we  women  ought  to  feel,  that  such  a  mighty  prov- 
ince was  ordained  for  us  to  fill !  but  I  fear  there  are  but 
few  of  us  who  carry  out  the  many  obligations  devolving 
on  us,  and  incumbent  upon  us  to  exercise  and  to  execute 
faithfully,  as  meant  by  Him  who  honored  us  with  this 
sacred  name.  And  yet  there  is  no  earthly  love  so  pure, 
and  so  thoroughly  disinterested,  as  the  love  of  a  good 
woman  for  her  child  :  it  is  the  holiest  of  loves,  because  it 
is  entirely  divested  of  passion,  it  is  entirely  divested  of 
self.  I  think  a  woman  shows  her  superior  intellectual- 
ity by  cheerfully  accepting  the  calling,  and  that  it  is 
quite  evident  the  Creator  intended  her  for  woman,  wife> 
and  mother ;  and  shrink  from  circles  who  attempt  to 
undermine,  deride,  and  ridicule  their  appointed  sphere. 
When  God  created  man  in  his  own  image,  he  said,  "  It 


66       THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

is  not  good  that  man  should  live  alone :  I  will  make 
him  a  helpmeet."  Now,  had  God  meant  to  create  merely 
a  companion,  capable  of  following  the  same  pursuits,  and 
capable  of  the  same  herculean  labors  that  evidently  is 
meant  to  be  man's  destiny,  why,  he  would  have  made 
another  man.  But  no !  When  God  caused  a  deep 
sleep  to  fall  upon  Adam,  he  took  out  one  of  his  ribs,  and 
made  a  woman,  —  a  being  in  EVERY  WAY  MAN'S  OPPOSITE. 
And,  after  they  ate  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  God  said 
to  the  woman,  "  Thy  desire  shall  be  to  thy  husband,  and 
he  shall  RULE  over  thee.  And  unto  Adam  he  said,  u  Be- 
cause thou  hast  hearkened  unto  the  voice  of  thy  wife, 
and  hast  eaten  of  the  tree  which  I  commanded  thee, 
saying,  Thou  shall  not  eat  of  it,  cursed  is  the  ground  for 
thy  sake  ;  in  sorrow  shalt  thou  eat  of  it  all  the  days  of  thy 
life;"  thus  plainly  demonstrating  to  us,  that  MAN  was 
meant  to  rule.  Bear  in  mind  that  God  was  angry  be- 
cause Adam  HEARKENED  unto  the  voice  of  his  WIFE  ;  and 
Adam  called  his  wife  Eve  because  she  was  the  mother 
of  all  living.  So  it  is  clear  to  be  seen,  that  woman 
was  meant  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  a  mother  in  caring 
for  her  offspring,  and  man  was  intended  to  labor  as  the 
provider  for  her  whom  he  choses  as  a  helpmeet,  and 
those  whom,  through  God's  wise  ordinance,  he  helps  to 
propagate.  Woman  has  natural  nourishment  sent  to 
her  for  the  babe  long  before  she  is  able  to  leave  her 
couch.  Is  not  this  knowledge  sufficient  evidence  to  ALL 
'THINKING  persons,  that  our  spheres  and  callings  are 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS.  67 

widely  different?  Surely,  the  very  opposite  formation 
of  man  and  woman  physically,  ought  to  convince  us  of 
this  sterling  fact. 

Man  was  given  a  more  powerful  frame  to  carry  out 
the  arduous  tasks  assigned  for  him.  Man  was  given  a 
more  capacious  intellect  to  carry  out  his  great  poiuers  of 
invention  and  investigation.  EVERY  GREAT  invention  has 
emanated  from  MAN,  and  been  carried  out  by  MAN.  Man 
was  meant  to  be  the  substantial  Iron  Pillar  for  the  wo- 
man and  her  offspring  to  lean  upon.  Man's  brain  is 
decidedly  capable  of  a  greater  range  of  action,  and  depth 
of  thought,  than  woman's.  Our  perceptive  organs  are 
KEENER  ;  our  instincts  CLEARER,  and  generally  QUICKER  ; 
our  impulses  often  better :  but,  when  terse  reasoning  is 
called  in  question,  we  fail  to  reach  man's  standing.  We 
have  never  had  a  female  Shakspeare,  a  female  Milton,  a 
female  Homer,  a  Chaucer,  or  a  Dickens  ;  we  have  never 
had  a  woman  Plato,  nor  a  woman  Socrates :  but,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  we  have  THOUSANDS  of  XANTIPPES  ;  and 
hundreds  of  men  could  be  mentioned,  that  no  woman 
has  ever  yet  been  co-equal  with.  The  idea  of  lovely 
woman,  that  great  men  have  written  so  many  exquisite 
poems  about,  wishing  to  look  or  act  like  a  man,  is  un- 
natural ;  and  every  thing  not  natural  ought  to  be  repug- 
nant to  the  sensible  and  refined.  This  great  wish  among 
some  women,  to  have  the  world  think  that  they  possess 
masculine  power,  generally  proceeds  from  persons  who 
wish  to  create  a  sensation,  and  fail  to  do  so  in  the  station 


68       THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

they  belong.  When  a  woman  wishes  to  go  out  of  her 
natural  element,  you  may  be  certain  there  is  some,  if  not 
visible,  hidden  reason  :  she  has  been  either  very  much 
tvronged  in  her  proper  womanly  rights,  or  her  intellect 
is  below  par,  and  she  is  desirous  of  being  thought  great- 
er than  her  sex  generally ;  instead,  she  discovers  to  us 
her  own  littleness.  I  never  saw  a  handsome  w,oman  a 
bloomer  yet.  These  people  seem  to  wish  to  be  what  it  is 
impossible  for  them  ever  to  become,  —  "  men."  Such 
proceedings  remind  me  of  vulgar  people  telling  us  that 
pork  was  so  lovely,  that  it  ate  just  like  CHICKEN,  and 
that  veal  stuffed  ate  like  TURKEY,  and  ducks  like  GEESE. 
Now,  when  I  buy  those  articles,  I  want  them  to  eat  pre- 
cisely like  what  they  are  :  just  as,  when  a  man  marries, 
he  invariably  expects  to  find  his  wife  a  woman.  A  young, 
shapeless  female  I  used  to  know,  living  in  one  of  the 
turnings-out  of  Bleecker  Street,  New  York,  was  always 
trying  to  impress  me  with  the  idea,  that  intellectual  people 
were  never  stout.  In  speaking  of  thin  people,  she  would 
exclaim, u  They  are  such  ethereal,  spiritual  beings ! "  The 
same  young  lady  informed  my  Willie,  that  no  intellec- 
tual person  ever  ate  pork.  And  yet  how  many  of 
our  greatest  men  have  been  reared  in  farmhouses,  where 
they  could  get  but  little  else  of  meat  kind  !  I  wonder  if 
she  knows  that  DOGS  won't  touch  pork ;  but,  perhaps,  they 
are  only  the  spiritual  and  intellectual  breed.  The  poor 
diseased  lepers  in  Jerusalem  never  touch  pork  ;  and  I 
never  heard  they  were  noted  for  either  their  purity  of 
blood,  or  clearness  of  brain. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  69 

One  clay  I  said  to  her,  "  My  young  friend,  as  you  dress 
fine,  go  to  watering-places,  Paris,  and  parties,  no  doubt 
some  time  you  will  get  married,  and  remember  my 
words :  Your  husband  will  be  very  much  shocked  and 
disappointed  to  find  you  a  spirit,  instead  of  a  woman."  * 
She  never  mentioned  this  word  before  me  again.  It  is 
this  maudlin,  affected  sentiment  that  ruins  half  the  girls 
of  the  present  day.  I  know  a  great  number  of  meagre- 
minded  women,  who  attempt  to  deride  a  fine,  natural, 
womanly  form,  and  a  fresh  color,  calling  it  vulgar  ;  and, 
to  my  ocular  knowledge,  their  complexion  is  purchased 
at  chemists,  and  their  figures  at  the  corset-makers.  I  pray 
to  Heaven  that  my  children  and  I  may  retain  our  health ; 
and  we  will  run  ALL  RISK  of  being  mistaken  for  vulgar 
plebeians. 

*  This  young  person  is  not  a  Spiritualist,  but  a  Catholic. 


70       THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 


CHAPTER    V. 

A  Long  One.  Asks  Another  Solid  Question  :  Are  "Women  True  Friends 
to  Each  Other?  No,  —  not  as  a  Body,  decidedly  not.  Another 
Cause  for  the  Increase  of  Crime,  with  a  Description  of  my  Hospital 
Friends,  and  Three  Butterflies  with  the  Shape  and  Sting  of  a  Wasp, 
and  meant  for  Women. 

READER,  I  am  now  going  back  to  the  first  subject 
in  this  volume,  —  the  gas  catastrophe.  I  informed 
you,  that  I  remember  nothing  from  Saturday,  twelve, 
A.M.,  until  I  found  myself  in  the  hospital.  I  shall  never 
forget  how  strange  I  felt  on  regaining  my  senses.  I  be- 
held about  fifty  beds,  with  fifty  heads,  and  the  eyes  of  Ar- 
gus upon  me.  My  little  girl  was  in  the  bed  next  to  me, 
and  explained  every  thing.  I  felt  very  weak,  with  dull, 
heavy  pains  in  my  chest.  I  must  now  take  this  oppor- 
tunity of  saying  a  few  words  about  our  treatment  while 
in  this  excellent  institution. 

The  doctors,  Burnett  and  Stoddard,  were  most  kind 
and  attentive  to  us  all,  and  much  attracted  by  my  chil- 
dren. As  to  Mr.  Thomas  Brenan,  the  superintendent 
of  Bellevue,  I  know  not  how  to  speak  highly  enough  of 
him.  He  acted  the  part  of  a  brother,  or,  rather,  how  a 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  71 

brother  ought  to  act,*  through  all  our  trouble :  indeed, 
his  Christianly  conduct  to  the  patients  and  poor  unhappy 
prisoners  is  well  worthy  of  note.  His  benevolence  is 
as  gigantic  as  his  person,  which  makes  him  quite  re- 
markable ;  for  he  is  six  feet  four  inches  high,  and,  of 
course,  his  heart  is  proportionately  large.  If  every  per- 
son connected  with  such  asylums  treated  these  poor 
misguided  people  in  the  same  considerate  way,  there 
would  be  ten  times  less  crime  at  the  present  moment ;  for 
it  is  quite  evident  the  human  heart  yearns  for  sympathy 
and  kind  words,  even  when  its  transgressions  have 
brought  it  to  so  low  an  ebb.  And  it  has  been  made 
manifest  by  recent  disclosures,  that  savage  brutality  is 
not  the  mode  to  adopt  for  reformation.  Mr.  Brenan 
has  much  of  the  wit  of  his  father's  nation  ;  and  several 
times  he  has  made  me  laugh  most  heartily  at  his  de- 
scription of  the  arrival  of  the  "  Boone  Family  "  at  the 
Bellevue,  on  Sunday,  the  14th  of  December,  1867,  at 
two,  A.M.  On  many  occasions  since,  we  have  given 
readings  there  before  all  the  doctors  and  patients : 
indeed,  every  person  who  could  leave  his  bed  was 
present ;  and  the  poor  prisoners  were  not  forgotten  by 
Mr.  Brenan,  who  gave  them  the  top  gallery,  all  to  them- 
selves. And  I  must  add,  I  never  read  before  a  more 

*  My  own  beloved  brothers  never  came  near  me ;  and  my  sister,  who  had  with 
her  husband  been  to  see  me  a  few  nights  previously,  rushed  out  of  the  city  on 
hearing  of  my  trouble,  and  never  wrote  me  one  line  to  cheer  me  or  my  children. 
They  were  ashamed  that  the  world  should  know  of  their  brutal  neglect;  and 
yet  these  good  people  do  not  speak  to  each  other  when  they  meet. 


72        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

orderly  audience,  much  to  the  credit  of  the  management 
of  this  establishment ;  and  would  to  God  we  had  more 
of  such  men  at  the  head  of  every  institution  of  this  kind, 
both  in  England  and  America !  My  first  visitors  were 
two  of  the  sisters  from  St.  Stephen's.  I  need  scarcely 
speak  of  their  kindness ;  for  we  all  know  what  these  ladies 
are  noted  for.  The  older  one,  about  thirty-two,  I  after- 
wards learned  had  given  an  immense  fortune  to  the 
Church  previous  to  entering  a  life  of  devotion  to  God 
and  his  creatures.  The  other  sister,  numbering  about 
seventeen  years,  possessed  a  countenance  that  gave  me 
pleasure  to  behold, — so  gentle,  so  guileless,  so  fresh,  so 
fair  and  beautiful,  such  a  contrast  to  some  of  the 
faces  I  had  looked  upon  that  morning,  that  I  could 
scarcely  keep  my  eyes  from  her.  My  soul  was  glad- 
dened to  see  the  tear  of  sympathy  fall  upon  the  cheek 
of  youth,  beauty,  and  innocence,  in  its  holy  purity,  as 
uncontaminated  as  the  dew-drop  from  heaven  resting 
on  the  spotless  lily  of  the  valley.  Next  came  Father  Mc- 
Avoy,  who  spoke  soothingly  to  me  ;  and  I  felt  calmer 
before  he  departed.  Then  came  the  head  sister,  with 
another,  from  St.  Joseph.  She  is  a  lady  of  rare  quali- 
fications, and  had  for  some  time  felt  a  deep  interest  in 
my  children,  and  offered,  as  soon  as  they  were  farther 
advanced,  to  take  them  in  her  academy  free  of  expense. 
She  was  deeply  pained  at  my  position,  and  bade  me  re- 
member how  Christ,  who  was  without  sin,  had  suffered 
so  bitterly  for  all.  This  lady  had,  on  the  Thanksgiving 


WITH  A   FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  73 

previous,  tendered  to  me  the  use  of  the  schoolroom  of 
St.  Joseph,  with  the  permission  of  Father  Farrell ;  and 
our  reading  was  honored  with  the  presence  of  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Parsons,  and  the  Rev.  Father  O'Leary,  and  all  the 
sisters,  with  their  pupils.  To  me  there  is  something 
perfectly  sublime  in  the  holy  life  these  good  Samaritans 
lead  ;  they  are  so  zealous  in  pointing  out  the  true  path 
to  happiness  (religion),  and  yet  so  humble,  so  meek. 
After  our  interview,  I  was  self-possessed,  and  quite 
ready  to  meet  coming  trouble. 

My  next  visitor  was  the  very  reverse  of  those  who 
had  just  left  me.  A  middle-aged  woman  entered,  wear- 
ing a  large  mink  cape,  small  bonnet,  large  waterfall,  the 
wrinkles  round  her  eyes  painted  white,  and  her  cheeks 
red,  with  her  veil  tightly  drawn  upon  her  face.  She 
had  a  long,  thin  nose,  on  which  she  wore  gold  spectacles. 
She  advanced  towards  my  bed,  and  asked  if  I  remem- 
bered her.  I  knew  her  voice  instantly.  It  is  rather  a 
peculiar  faculty  I  possess,  —  let  me  hear  a  voice  once, 
and  I  will  know  that  voice,  when  hearing  it,  twenty 
years  after.  I  had  engaged  this  woman,  sixteen  years 
before,  to  sing  between  my  children's  readings,  simply 
that  they  might  rest,  and  not  be  over-fatigued.  At  the 
expiration  of  three  weeks,  I  discharged  her,  as  I  soon 
found  out  I  was  paying  fifteen  dollars  per  week  for  dis- 
cordant sounds,  instead  of  harmonious  ones.  She  was  a 
person  most  distasteful,  both  to  Mr.  Boone  and  myself; 
dressed  very  gaudily,  wore  a  large  quantity  of  common 
jewelry,  and  talked  lond  nt  the  pnhliV  table. 


74       TEE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

I  scarcely  ever  spoke  to  her  unless  business  demanded 
it,  for  \ve  seldom  met ;  I  invariably  having  my  meals 
in  my  own  room.  In  public,  she  defined  herself  by  the 
romantic  name  of  Miss  Lizzie  Linsey.  I  once  went  to 
her  house,  and  heard  a  boy  call  her  Lizzie,  whom  I  sub- 
sequently found  out  was  her  son.  This  abject  vanity 
disgusted  me  completely ;  for  at  that  time  I  had  seven  chil- 
dren, although  younger  than  her:  and  I  can  scarcely  de- 
scribe \\o\\proud  I  felt  when  my  first  child  called  me  by  my 
new  name,  —  mother.  Having  children  has  kept  up  the 
poetry  of  my  life.  The  two  matrons  of  the  hospital  stood 
by  my  bedside ;  and  to  them  she  praised  me  in  the  most 
enthusiastic  manner,  saying  how  I  had  labored  to  bring 
up  my  large  family.  As  I  listened,  her  voice  jarred  up* 
on  my  ear  ;  for  I  felt  she  had  not  one  atom  of  interest  for 
me  or  mine,  and  that  it  was  merely  to  make  herself  con- 
spicuous in  the  affair,  that  she  had  come.  I  detest  to  be 
flattered  by  people  I  dislike,  by  people  who  are  uncon- 
genial, by  people  whom  I  FEEL  are  my  inferiors  in  prin- 
ciple and  actions.  There  are  persons  who  like  to  be  ad- 
mired and  looked  up  to  by  any  class,  provided  they  are 
the  HEAD  ;  and  I  would  rather  be  least  among  those 
whom  I  knew  possessed  more  knowledge  and  more  wis- 
dom than  myself,  so  as  to  enable  me,  by  the  association, 
to  add  something  great  to  the  stock  I  already  possess, 
than  to  be  the  head  of  a  set  of  grovelling  toadies,  who 
would  flatter  my  weak  points  to  fatten  themselves  upon. 
I  arn  impervious  to  such  sycophantic  sycophants!  On 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID    QUESTIONS.  75 

leaving,  she  said  she  would  meet  me  the  next  day  at 
Jefferson  Market,  where  I  was  to  appear  before  Judge 
Led  with. 

Reader,  I  wish  you  to  understand  that  this  woman  was 
not  the  slightest  use  as  a  witness  ;  she  being  entirely  ig- 
norant of  the  ivliole  affair  further  than  I  chose  to  tell 
her.  The  last  time  I  had  seen  her  was  in  the  street, 
thirteen  years  before  :  so  you  will  perceive,  that  she 
knew  nothing  of  me,  or  my  mode  of  living.  I  must  not 
forget  to  mention,  that  Mr.  Henry  Greenfield,  of  2, 
Nassau  Street,  came  and  offered  his  services,  free  of  charge, 
and  said  his  partner,  Mr.  Williamson,  would  be  happy 
to  assist  him.  And  I  hope  yet  to  be  able  to  show  these 
gentleman,  substantially,  the  gratitude  I  feel  for  their 
chivalrous  and  sympathetic  conduct  in  that  hour  of  trib- 
ulation, which  is  the  right  time  to  test  true  men  and  true 
friendship.  I  was  quite  proud  of  my  counsel ;  for  there 
are  not  two  men  of  a  higher  tone  of  mind,  character,  and 
standing,  in  America.  Mr.  James  McLennon  kindly 
offered  his  services ;  but  my  counsel  thought  they  would 
be  able  to  manage  without  further  aid.  Still,  he  com- 
manded my  respect,  just  as  if  he  had  been  required. 
While  I  was  in  a  state  of  semi-unconsciousness,  it 
seems  I  had  been  asked  if  I  had  taken  poison  ;  and  some 
persons  standing  by  say  that  I  answered,  u  Yes."  I  do  not 
remember  being  asked.  The  next  day,  at  the  court,  I 
saw  the  women  who  came  as  witnesses  against  me; 
having  heard  me  answer  yes  to  the  question  referred  to, 


76       THE  INCREASE   OF  CRIME,   AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

I  will  give  you  a  brief  description  of  the  ladies  who  ruled 
the  Jiouse.  They  had  many  male  friends,  who  seemed 
to  take  a  great  interest  in  their  ivelfare.  They  had 
plenty  of  money,  and  plenty  of  fine  dresses.  They  were 
both  women  about  forty,  and  would  still  have  been 
handsome,  had  it  not  been  so  evident,  by  their  manners 
and  general  appearance,  that  they  had  led  that  loose 
life  which  so  qwicJdy  leaves  its  indelible  mark  upon  a 
woman's  face,  and  cannot  be  disguised  by  even  youth, 
and  perfection  of  features.  This  look,  once  stamped  upon 
the  face  of  the  young  girl,  is  painful  to  behold  ;  but,  by 
the  time  a  woman  has  arrived  at  the  meridian  of  life,  it 
becomes  revolting*  There  these  women  stood  in  all 
their  artificial  bloom  of  degradation,  attesting  to  a  lie,  — • 
that  I  had  taken  laudanum,  and  given  it  to  my  children. 
What  a  glorious  thing  to  know  that  science  has  arrived 
to  such  perfection  that  the  perjurers  were  baffled  in  their 
murderous  design  !  The  excellent  testimony  of  officer 
Andrew  Ray,  of  Fifteenth  Precinct,  who  first  saw  me, 
contradicted  all  that  these  women  attempted  to  affirm. 
He  described  every  thing  in  the  most  graphic  manner  ; 

*  I  am  a  natural  physiognomist.  I  am  rarely  deceived  in  a  face.  I  think  the 
expression  of  the  countenance  is  the  truest  index  of  the  mind,  showing  whether 
the  higher  or  lower  feelings  predominate.  Every  base  or  exalting  thought  tells  its 
own  tale.  Every  wrinkle\\&&  a  history,  if  we  only  knew  it.  I  can  never  forget 
the  horrible  expression  on  the  woman  Smith's  face,  as  she  looked  out  through 
the  glass  door  of  her  shop,  and  saw  me  in  the  carriage  with  uiy  four  children. 
NEVER  !  I  felt  if  I  had  gone  into  that  house,  I  should  not  have  left  it  ALIVE. 
Such  was  my  impression  then;  and,  after  mature  consideration,  it  still  lasts; 
and  I  feel  it  was  God's  mercy  that  she  refused  to  admit  me. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID    QUESTIONS.  77 

and  tli at  the  room  was  searched,  but  no  bottle  of  any 
description  could  be  found.  Added  to  this,  was  the  Drs. 
Perry,  Stoddard,  and  Burnett's  corroboration,  that  our 
illness  had  proceeded  from  the  effects  of  gas,  and  not 
laudanum.  Mrs.  E.  E.  Smith  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Elliot 
had  tried  to  cultivate  my  acquaintance  without  the 
slightest  success.  I  never  allowed  them  in  my  room  ; 
and  the  great  complaint  against  me  in  every  house  I 
have  lived  is,  that  I  am  proud,  because  I  make  it  a  rule 
never  to  cultivate  the  acquaintance  of  people  in  board- 
ing-houses, lodging-houses,  or  hotels. 

One  paper  said  that  I  was  haughty,  and  kept  myself 
closely  shut  up  the  whole  time,  and  that  my  children 
seemed  to  inherit  this  peculiar  trait  of  character,  as  they 
were  never  seen  playing  with  other  children.  Reader, 
is  it,  because  I  have  been  reduced,  through  uncontrol- 
lable circumstances,  to  live  among  a  class  that  are  re- 
pugnant to  me, —  is  it  to  follow  that  I  am  to  make  these 
people  my  companions  ?  Certainly  not.  How  would 
you  like  to  be  made  to  associate  with  each  individual 
you  come  in  contact  with  in  a  car,  omnibus,  or  eating- 
saloon?  This  would  be  slavery  of  the  strongest  type, 
which  I  shall  never  submit  to.  These  fair  ladies,  finding 
me  firm  in  my  determination,  became  dreadfully  in- 
censed against  me  ;  and  the  time  had  arrived  for  their 
revenge. 

When  the  judge  asked  me  what  I  had  to  say  to  the 
charge  made  by  Mrs.  Elliot  .and  Smith,  I  replied, 


78        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

"  Your  Honor,  I  do  not  think  such  women  ought  to  be 
allowed  as  witnesses  at  all.  I  would  not  permit  them 
to  enter  my  apartments ;  and  they  are  full  of  malignant 
spleen."  Luckily  for  me,  Mrs.  Elliot  was  well  known 
at  the  court  by  the  policemen  and  lawyers,  as  having 
been  there  many  times  under  circumstances  not  of  the 
most  favorable  nature.  I  could  not  help  thinking,  at 
the  time,  what  a  mockery  all  this  investigation  was,  even 
had  I  committed  the  foul  act ;  for  three  doors  from  the 
rooms  I  lived  in  is  the  stylish  house  of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Grin- 
die,  where  there  are  hundreds  of  "fashionable  murders  " 
committed  yearly.  And  twice  the  papers  have  teemed 
with  accounts  of  the  unhappy  mothers  dying  ;  and,  on 
the  last  occasion,  the  child  was  not  to  be  found,  although 
born  alive,  —  and  nothing  done  to  either  the  doctor  or 
his  lady ! 

O  Ward  Beecher !  I  thank  thee  again  for  teaching 
me  these  words,  "  Justice  stinks !  "  Was  it  at  all  likely 
that  I  could  commit  such  a  revolting  deed? — _T,  who 
had  for  years  unceasingly  suffered  "  poverty  and  toil  and 
care,"  and  worked  hard  to  rear  my  large  family?  — 
I,  who  sold  the  only  diamond-ring  I  ever  possessed  (that 
had  been  an  heir-loom  in  my  husband's  family  for  two 
hundred  years)  rather  than  that  my  daughters  should 
accept  an  engagement  as  readers,  for  a  salary  of  ten 
pounds  per  week  each,  when  in  London? — (But  they 
were  to  go  forth  alone  ;  and  I  would  not  consent.  These 
are  stubborn  facts.)  —  /,  who  can  say  with  truth  that  I 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  79 

never  let  poverty  frighten  me  from  my  duty,  nor  the 
want  of  money  tempt  me  to  evil ;  for  which  I  PRAISE 
THEE,  O  GOD,  and  bless  the  memory  of  my  mother? 

I  was  honorably  acquitted,  and  sent  for  a  carriage  to 
take  us  home  to  our  apartments.  Remember,  they  were 
paid  for  in  advance  !  and  these  two  courtesans  locked 
me  out.  All  rny  valuable  duplicates  were  stolen  ; 
nearly  all  my  papers  taken  or  burnt  ;  over  forty  of 
Samuel  Drew's  letters  to  my  mother  destroyed,  which 
I  had  meant  to  publish ;  and  Mrs.  Boone's  "  will,"  wherein 
she  mentioned  having  loaned  five  thousand  pounds  to  a 
member  of  the  Kirkpatrick  family,  which  she  hoped 
would  yet  be  returned,  and,  if  so,  my  children  and  I 
would  be  the  recipients,  —  this  was  gone  !  Three  dozen 
of  clean  clothes  brought  home  by  the  washerwoman  the 
morning  of  the  accident,  new  blankets  and  comforters, 
—  in  fact,  every  thing  I  possessed,  —  were  so  mangled 
and  broken,  that  they  were  rendered  quite  useless  to  me. 
These  articles  were  removed  by  the  order  of  John  Rob- 
erts, son  of  Daniel  Roberts,  the  landlord  (of  Long 
Island),  into  a  cellar  without  a  lock  or  key  ;  and  every 
person  helped  themselves;  and  it  was  seven  weeks  before 
the  woman  Elliot  would  allow  the  few  things  that  did  re- 
main to  leave  the  house,  although  I  sent  a  cart  three 
times  to  get  them.  And  the  whole  of  this  time  I  was 
paying  ten  dollars  per  week  for  furnished  apartments ! 
And  all  the  redress  I  obtained  from  John  Roberts,  Mrs. 
E.  E.  Smith's  particular  FRIEND,  was  fifty  dollars  for 


80        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

being  locked  out  (nothing  for  the  thefts  committed)  ; 
and  a  man  by  the  name  of  Dusenbiny  took  twenty  dol- 
lars for  getting  it.  Here  was  justice  to  the  soldier's 
widow  !  —  shut  out  in  the  snow  with  four  children.  We 
had  to  give  up  the  carriage,  as  the  man  was  going  to  a 
funeral ;  and,  being  Sunday,  we  found  it  difficult  to  get 
a  suitable  place  ;  and,  from  being  exposed  on  this  bitter 
day,  my  youngest  child's  leg  festered,  and  he  was  twelve 
iveelcs  in  the  hospital.  And  I  lost  my  voice  for  two 
months.  I  learned  there  were  hundreds  of  persons 
who  called  to  assist  me  ;  and  these  two  women,  Smith 
and  Elliot,  informed  them  that  I  had  thousands  of 
dollars  sent  me ;  so  that  I  was  worse  off  than  ever,  — 
without  my  furniture,  and  paying  a  heavy  rent;  and  all 
I  received  was  one  hundred  and  forty-six  dollars  from 
the  late  Mr.  Raymond,  proprietor  of  "  The  New- York 
Times,"  thirty-four  dollars  from  Mr.  Brenan,  and  ten 
dollars  from  the  British  consul.  So,  had  it  not  been  for 
the  kind  gentlemen  who  responded  to  Mr.  Raymond's 
appeal  in  my  behalf,  I  would  have  been  nearly  destitute. 
I  shall  never  forget  his  Christian  " mercy"  which  is 
"  mightiest  in  the  mightiest,"  and  is,  indeed,  "  an  attri- 
bute to  Grod  himself,"  who  has  since  been  pleased  to 
summon  his  spirit  away  to  the  bright  company  of  an- 
gels. I  called  on  Mr.  Raymond,  and  had  an  agreeable 
conversation,  which  I  shall  recount  in  a  work  I  am  now 
writing,  entitled  u  Anna  Boone's  Life-Battle  with  the 
Barbarians  of  the  Nineteenth  Century."  Mr.  D.  O.  C. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  81 

Townly,  of  "  The  Times,"  kindly  came  to  see  me  twice. 
He  it  was  who  paid  the  money  to  me ;  consequently, 
knows  the  truth  of  my  statement.  I  must  mention,  that 
Mrs.  Elliot  has  been  imprisoned,  since  this  affair,  for 
beating  the  man  she  was  living  with  (Elliot),  in  the 
open  street ;  and,  the  last  account  I  heard  of  her,  she 
was  spending  a  few  months  at  a  rural  retreat  known  by 
the  name  of  "  The  Island."  And  Mrs.  E.  E.  Smith  was 
hooted  out  of  the  street,  and  dare  not  show  her  face  in 
that  vicinity.  And  these  two  women  *  were  the  cause 
of  all  the  misrepresentations  in  the  papers.  The  ladies 
who  called  little  knew  that  they  were  holding  conver- 
sation with  two  women  that  earned  their  living  by  their 
depravity. 

There  had  been  sent  for  me,  to  the  house  of  the  woman 
with  the  painted  face,  the  mink  cape,  and  the  gold  specta- 
cles, three  elegant  coats,  worth  two  hundred  dollars,  to  be 
used  for  my  boys ;  besides  flannel,  and  many  other  articles. 
The  gentleman  who  gave  these  clothes  lives  in  the  Fifth 
Avenue,  and  he  was  quite  astonished  to  learn  I  had  seen 
nothing  of  them.  He  informed  me,  that,  when  he  first 
heard  of  the  affair,  he  was  so  shocked,  that  he  packed  up 
every  thing  within  his  reach  ;  and  the  coats  he  had  only 
worn  two  or  three  times.  The  lady  who  took  them  to  her 
house  thought  this  woman  was  a  friend  of  mine,  little 
thinking  she  would  prove  a  robber.  I  wrote  to  her  on 

*  And  a  villanous  policeman  named  Gillan. 


82        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

the  subject ;  but  she  gave  no  answer,  simply  sending  me 
ten  dollars,  and  a  verbal  message,  that  the  things  were 
sold.  She  called  at  the  hospital,  and  vilified  me  to  the 
very  matrons  to  whom  she  had  praised  me  previously. 
They  thought  there  was  something  wrong,  but  could  not 
define  what  could  have  caused  such  a  great  alteration 
in  her  sentiments.  Of  course,  she  had  kept  away  from 
me,  fearing  I  would  find  out  all  about  her  purloining 
the  clothes.  The  people  at  the  court  thought  she  was  a 
wealthy  woman,  with  her  sweeping  moire  antique,  and 
three-hundred-and-fifty-dollar  cape.  She  implored  me 
not  to  acquaint  these  persons  that  I  had  employed  her, 
because  she  wished  the  judge  to  think  she  lived  in  the 
Fifth  Avenue,  from  her  expensive  dress.  She  spoke  of 
her  cook  and  housemaid  before  the  men  at  the  court, 
and  implied  that  she  was  living  in  grand  style;  and  her 
real  position  was  occupying  a  part  of  a  house  in  the 
Fourth  Avenue,  with  three  other  families,  keeping  a  few 
boarders,  with  a  maid  of  ALL  WORK.  Her  husband 
is  a  decent  mechanic,  whom,  she  informed  me,  she  had 
married  for  a  home,  but  said  she  could  not  love  him, 
as  he  was  her  inferior  in  every  way.  Oh,  this  cursed 
marrying  for  a  home  !  Many  an  excellent  man  is  taken 
in  thus,  for  a  home  and  fine  dress,  or  as  a  cover  for  the 
way  to  obtain  it.  Her  father,  when  I  first  saw  her, 
was  one  of  the  old  "  Sun"  CARRIERS.  During  the  few 
days  I  was  in  bondage,  I  gave  her  twenty  dollars  to 
get  hats  and  furs  for  my  little  girls,  and  other  requi- 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  83 

sites  to  appear  in  court.  When  they  came,  I  felt  ashamed 
to  look  at  them.  They  had  on  purple  cotton-velvet 
hats  bound  with  red,  a  blue  feather-tip  in  one,  and  a 
pink  in  the  other  (they  cost  fifty  cents  each)  ;  ragged 
furs,  for  which  she  gave  five  dollars  for  the  two  sets, 
and  I  saw  nothing  of  my  change.*  She  told  Dr.  Perry 
that  she  had  footed  all  my  bills  ;  and  to  me  she  imparted 
a  great  secret,  —  that  her  husband  had  failed,  and  she  had 
not  twenty  dollars  in  the  world.  So  I  suppose  my 
twenty  came  in  excellent  season.  She  invited  Dan  up 
to  her  house,  made  him  deliver  some  of  his  lectures, 
took  up  a  collection,  and  took  care  to  keep  it.  Pie  had  a 
gold  dollar  given  him  ;  and  she  begged  that  from  the 
child  for  a  keepsake.  She  told  Grace  and  Myrtle  that 
she  had  given  them  the  articles  referred  to,  and  informed 
every  other  person  the  same  (I  knew  nothing  of  this  at 
the  time)  ;  and  they  believed  her,  and  bowed  to  her  in 
the  most  obsequious  manner,  —  not  because  they  knew 
her,  and  respected  her  for  her  moral  worth,  charities,  or 
her  intellect,  but  because  they  counted  the  worth  of 
every  article  she  had  on.  Oh,  these  flashy-dressed  but- 
terflies! Oh,  these  gaudy  peacocks  !  Oh,  these  par- 
rots, with  a  coat  of  many  colors  !  how  these  croaking 
imitators  of  their  betters  are  bowed  down  to  and  wor- 
shipped by  the  many  !  But,  thank  God  !  there  is  still 
left  an  immense  class  of  intellectual,  intelligent,  and 

*  I  went  to  the  store,  and  found  this  out. 


84       THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE ; 

naturally-refined  persons,  who  would  much  prefer  the 
society  and  plain  brown  dress  of  the  nightingale,  or  the 
gray  dress  of  the  mocking-bird,  with  their  volume  of 
rich  melody,  that  charms  us  when  we  are  happy,  and 
soothes  us  in  our  bitterest  sorrow ;  yes,  and  even  the 
society  of  the  petit  sparrow  and  the  robin,  whose  more 
humble  efforts  apprise  us  that  the  fresh,  bright  spring  has 
arrived,  and  the  radiant  summer  is  near  at  hand.  Who 
of  us,  I  wonder,  has  not  listened,  and  felt  their  spirit 
gladdened  at  the  heavenly  greeting  of  these  natural 
warblers,  when  remembering  that  our  Father,  in  his 
infinite  mercy,  has  granted  us  sweet  life  for  another 
season,  to  enjoy  the  purity  of  this  heavenly  oratorio, 
shouting  forth  his  praises,  and  making  us  feel  that  the 
Spirit  of  Crod  is  among  us?  And,  in  my  estimation,  all 
the  combined  efforts  of  the  great  men  cannot  approach 
in  divineness  this  celestial  concert  one  atom  nearer  than 
the  tower  of  Babel  did  to  Jehovah's  throne.  No  malice, 
hatred,  slandering,  among  these  musicians;  nothing  but 
sunny,  genial  harmony  in  their  concert-room,  the  largest 
in  the  WORLD,  —  the  universe.  How  clearly  God  has 
illustrated  to  us,  through  these  inspired  minstrels,  that, 
if  fine  feathers  do  make  fine  birds,  intrinsic  worth  is  far 
preferable  to  merely  a  handsome  exterior,  whether  in 
person  or  dress,  and  shows  us  that  a  sweet  voice  or  a 
great  mind  is  frequently  incased  in  a  plain  outer  garb, 
which  will  burst  forth  at  some  time,  just  as  the  sun  does 
from  beneath  a  black  cloud,  to  give  joy  to  our  hearts  ! 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  85 

Men  and  women,  it  would  be  a  difficult  matter  with 
my  pen  for  me  to  express  to  you  the  gratitude  I  feel  to 
God  for  giving  me  this  keen  relish  for  the  wondrous 
and  manifold  signs  of  his  love  that  he  sends  to  us  in  so 
mysterious  a  manner  to  lift  us  up  from  out  of  this 
world's  mire,  to  soar  even  in  its  midst.  When  we  have 
been  suffering  our  very  poorest,  living  in  lonely  obscu- 
rity, and  feeling  more  than  usually  depressed  with  my 
vicissitudes,  and  suddenly  the  sun  has  beamed  in  upon 
us  with  his  kindly  smile,  I  have  thanked  my  Maker  that 
I  was  spared  to  receive  his  genial  warmth,  which  came 
to  greet  me  like  a  pure  celestial  spirit,  kindling  up  my 
higher  feelings,  and  clearly  manifesting  to  me  that  I  was 
still  remembered  by  Him  whose  pleasure  it  has  been  to 
so  severely  chastise  me.  It  is  this  gift  from  above  that 
has  been  made  a  part  of  my  very  being,  that  has  enabled 
me  to  bear  my  trials,  and  feel  joyous  at  times,  and  com- 
paratively happy,  and  prefer  insulted  poverty  to  respected, 
ill-begotten  ease  and  affluence. 

Reader,  a  short  time  ago  I  received  a  letter  from  a 
London  lady,  who  stands  high  both  socially  and  intel- 
lectually, wherein  she  was  pleased  to  compare  me  to 
some  eminent  women  whose  lives  were  noted  for  almost 
unceasing  tribulation.  She  continued,  "  How  wonder- 
fully you  have  borne  up  under  such  a  continuation  of 
goading  insults  which  are  usually  lavished  upon  the 
poor  I "  I  replied,  "  My  friend,  when  we  can  pass 
through  these  ordeals  uncontauiinated  ;  .when,  we  can 


86        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

withstand  the  fiery  temptations  that  are  cast  in  the  very 
teeth  of  poverty ;  when  we  still  possess  our  fresh  relish 
for  the  beautiful,  the  intellectual,  and  the  sublime  ;  when 
we  can  retain  that  bright  cheerfulness  which  is  such  a 
welcome  guest  to  every  well-seasoned  fireside ;  when  we 
can  feel  that  God  is  chastening  us  for  his  own  wise  pur- 
pose ;  and  that  it  is  to  purify  us,  and  not  debase  us,  that 
he  lets  us  suffer,  —  it  is  THEN  we  can  defy  the  stinging 
insults  of  this  cold,  heartless  world." 

When  the  "  mink  cape  "  heard  I  was  acquitted,  she 
threw  her  arms  round  my  neck,  and  kissed  me  about  ten 
times  without  stopping,  and  shrieked,  "Free,  free!" 
I  hate  women  to  kiss  me,  unless  we  are  intimate  friends 
of  long  standing. 

I  have  seen  women  kiss  who  despised  each  other 
most  heartily.  I  have  witnessed  kissing  and  vilifying 
in  one  short  half-hour  by  the  same  dear  friends.  I 
wish  I  had  as  many  pounds  at  this  moment  as  I  have 
had  ocular  proof  of  these  fulsome,  hypocritical  perform- 
ances. I  am  sorry  to  say  that  women,  as  a  body,  have 
but  little  genuine  sympathy  for  their  own  sex :  and  I 
firmly  believe  this  is  one  reason  why  we  have  so  many 
unhappy  girls  led  astray  ;  for,  as  I  remarked  before, 
human  hearts  yearn  for  sympathy,  even  when  their  ac- 
tions have  not  borne  the  standing  test  of  what  is  called 
morality.  I  am  certain  men  generally  have  more 
genuine  feeling  than  women,  and  are  not  as  prone  to 
slander  each  other;  and  frequently  they  will  do  the 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  87 

kindest  actions  to  tlie  opposite  sex  without  one  evil 
thought  or  sinister  design ;  and  young  girls,  with  their 
trusting,  innocent  natures,  accept  with  enthusiastic  grati- 
tude (which  generally  dwells  in  the  unsophisticated 
youthful  heart)  that  friendship  which  is  so  rarely  offered 
one  to  another  by  women  when  most  needed.  Mrs. 
Lincoln,  in  her  hour  of  prosperity,  was  courted  and 
flattered ;  and  in  her  hour  of  desolation  she  was  deserted, 
slandered,  and  held  up  to  derision.  Where  are  the 
women  toadies  who  were  fluttering  round  her  at  the 
44  White  House  "  ?  Mrs.  Lincoln's  conduct  on  many 
occasions  was  not  right,  perhaps ;  but  there  was  never  a 
word  against  her  character  morally :  and  yet  ^she  has 
been  for  years  denied  a  pension  ;  and  thousands  of  blear- 
eyed,  BLOATED  drunkards  have  received  one  without  a 
comment  upon  their  actions,  or  mode  of  living.  Every- 
body admits  Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  good  man.  Mrs. 
Lincoln  was  his  wife,  the  mother  of  his  children,  whose 
faces  must  often  have  tingled  with  burning  blushes  at 
the  rude  insults  heaped  upon  the  woman  who  bore  them. 
Poor  Mrs.  Surratt  was  deserted  in  her  hour  of  trial,  and 
hung;  and  Jeff.  Davis  goes  free.  O  Ward  Beecher  !  I 
thank  theeyet  again  for  teaching  me  these  words  "justice 
stinks."  Women  should  have  gone  in  one  united  body, 
and  hindered  tlusfoul  deed, —  (a  black  spot  on  American 
history.)*  But,  remember,  the  accepting  of  sympathy  is 

*  What  a  terrible  fuss  there  was  because  Reverdy  Johnson  shook  hands 
L  the  builder  of  "  The  Alabama"  I  and  yet,  when  Mr,  Ghreeley  bailed  the  man 


88        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,   AtfD  ITS  CAUSE; 

dangerous  to  young  girls,  even  froin  men  of  good  prin- 
ciples and  moral  worth  :  for  the  best  of  us,  more  or  less, 
possess  some  of  the  frailties  that  humanity  is  heir  to, 
and  imperceptible  evils  assail  us  that  we  dream  not  of; 
and  the  world  cries  out  with  the  loud  voice  of  horrified 
delight.  It  has  often  been  a  subject  of  wonder  to  me 
to  hear  women,  mothers,  casting  the  first  stone  at  some 
beautiful  young  orphan  who  may  be  frivolous  and  giddy, 
whose  very  loveliness  and  loneliness  call  forth  alternately 
envy,  admiration,  and  sympathy,  —  to  hear  them  pro- 
nounce the  impending  fate  without  one  arm  stretched 
out  to  save  her ;  and  should  the  result  be  all  they  have 
predicted,  and  the  once  joyous  spirit  of  the  poor  child  is 
crushed,  and  she  is  glad  to  seek  refuge  in  some  asylum 
to  hide  from  those  who  would  sneer  and  reproach  her, 
these  women,  with  the  accommodating  cloak  of  religion 
wrapped  closely  round  them,  will  parade  into  this  melan- 
choly building  with  hearts  as  hard  and  cold  as  the  stone 
it  is  composed  of,  and  administer  their  sickening  advice 
to  the  very  girl,  that,  with  timely  tenderness,  could  have 
been  saved  from  failing  into  the  chasm  that  had  nearly 
swallowed  up  body  and  soul.  It  is  this  laxity  of  proper 
sympathy  from  woman  to  woman,  this  love  of  slandering 
among  our  sex,  that  is  another  cause  of  the  "  increase 

that  was  the  cause  of  rendering  tens  of  thousands  of  mothers  childless,  and 
little  children  fatherless,  and  saturating  the  ground  with  dear  blood,  a  few  vf  ere 
shocked,  and  expressed  amazement;  but  it  blew  over  as  a  nine-days' wonder, 
and  some  people  began  to  laud  him  for  the  act.  I  think,  after  all,  I  shall  turn 
woman's-rights  woman,  and  help  to  turn  the  world  upside  down. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  89 

of  crime."  Women,  there  is  much  for  us  to  do,  if  we 
will  only  do  it  with  the  right  spirit,  and  feel  that  it  is 
our  right.  Teachers  can  accomplish  much,  wives  more, 
and  mothers  most. 

If  this  was  the  spirit  of  the  age,  we  would  achieve 
more  to  glorify  God  by  accepting  the  mission  he  has  set 
for  us,  —  more  for  mankind,  more  for  ourselves,  —  than 
all  the  rights  that  the  soft  sex  are  so  raving  about  to 
pass  through  Congress  at  the  present  time :  but  it  must 
be  done  in  the  sphere  of  a  woman;  for,  when  we  overstep 
the  boundaries  of  womanhood,  we  lose  our  greatest  and 
most  valuable  gem,  our  WOMANLY  POWER,  which  charms 
the  most  obdurate,  and,  when  properly  used,  has  saved 
tens  of  thousands  of  men  from  entering  into  the  broad 
path  that  leads  to  destruction.  Let  women  stand  stanch 
by  each  other  in  their  peculiar  trials,  temptations,  and 
duties,  and  they  can  conquer  whatever  they  undertake, 
and  accomplish  more  towards  educating  the  rising  gen- 
eration of  young  females  for  the  occupations  they  are 
most  fitted  for  than  all  the  laws  that  may  pass  in  our 
favor.  Let  us  stand  by  each  other  just  as  the  brave 
General  does  by  his  men,  and  they  by  him.  It  is  UNI- 
TY that  can  achieve  so  much. 

Women,  UNION  is  power  in  EVERY  THING. 


90        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Is  another  Long  One,  with  My  Three  Last  Solid  Questions,  —  Is  Dress, 
or  Worth,  to  be  respected  ?  Are  we  not  to  honor  the  Respectable 
Poor  ?  Yes.  But  do  we  ?  No.  Another  Cause  for  the  Increase  of 
Crime.  Are  all  Men  equal  ?  No.  The  very  Dogs  teach  us  this ; 
so  do  the  Divisions  of  the  Earth,  —  the  Hills  and  the  Dales,  the 
Mountains  and  the  Valleys,  the  Richness  of  One  Soil,  and  the  Barren- 
ness of  another :  all  these  Natural  Distinctions  are  living  Proofs  that 
Equality  does  not  exist,  and  never  will  here.  Equality  by  Dress  only 
is  dangerous,  and  another  Cause  of  the  Increase  of  Crime. 

SOME  time  ago  I  saw  in  one  of  the  New -York  lead- 
ing papers  an  article  headed,  "  The  Increase  of 
Crime  :  where  is  the  Remedy  ?  " 

Now  I  am  going  to  give  you  a  few  more  of  my  hum- 
ble ideas  on  this  subject.  There  is  always  some  reason 
for  every  evil  that  exists  ;  and  I  trust  that  I  have  given 
some  good  reasons  already. 

Let  us  first  try  to  analyze  the  CAUSE  of  this  increase 
in  the  present  day ;  and,  after  this  has  been  ascertained, 
we  will  be  better  able  to  decide  upon  an  efficacious 
remedy.  I  rarely  take  up  a  paper,  but  I  am  greeted 
with  the  following  announcements  :  "  The  late  Bank 
Robbery,"  "  Another  Robbery  in  Wall  Street,"  "Wall 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  91 

Street  Fraud,"  "  Bank  Robbery  in  Baltimore."  And 
as  to  suicides,  murders,  and  crim.  con.  cases,  they  are 
too  numerous  to  identify.  Permit  me  to  say  that  I  think 
the  present  "Cause"  of  these  flagrant  evils  is,  The 
false  state  of  society,  The  lack  of  reality,  The  excess 
of  frivolity,  The  great  desire  for  outside  equality,  and 
the  dearth  of  the  right  kind  of  entertainment  for  the 
RISING  YOUTH  !  This  state  of  things  can  scarcely 
help  leading  the  masses  to  an  increase  of  crime. 
Equality  ought  to  be  founded  and  based  on  two  solid 
principles,  —  morality  and  education.  It  struck  me 
forcibly  some  time  ago,  when  I  read  the  terrible  com- 
plaints against  the  Board  of  Education,  and  even  innu- 
endoes as  to  what  had  been  done  with  the  enormous  sums 
expended  for  these  evening  schools.  After  attending  a 
meeting  at  Steinway  Hall,  on  the  29th  of  March,  and 
hearing  some  excellent  compositions  and  declamations 
from  boys  and  young  men  who  are  scholars  of  the  New- 
York  Evening  High  School,  and  had  to  work  by  day  to 
live,  — I  say  it  struck  me  forcibly  that  the  "  Board  "  ought 
to  have  been  lauded  for  so  ably  carrying  out  this  excel- 
lent idea,  —  that  of  instituting  schools  for  the  youth  to 
spend  his  evenings,  where  he  can  educate  and  ELEVATE 
his  intellectual  powers,  which  all  men  possess  to  some 
extent.  If  there  was  ten  times  more  money  expended 
for  the  rising  generation  in  this  way,  I  feel  certain 
society  would  be  benefited ;  and,  at  the  end  of  a  few 
years,  those  who  are  now  grunting  about  the  enormous 


92        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

expenditure  would  find  out  that  there  would  be  less 
money  required  to  keep  up  the  State  Prisons  :  for, 
depend  on  it,  young  men  who  WISH  to  attend  school, 
and  educate  their  higher  tastes,  show  a  nobility  of  soul 
that  eventually  will  command  the  respect  of  all  good 
people,  even  if  they  never  attain  what  is  defined  "  Great- 
ness." Young  men  who  live  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow, 
toiling  for  poor  wages  (sew  ing- women  are  not  the  only 
people  who  are  poorly  paid),*  and  perhaps  a  sick  or 
aged  mother  to  assist,  —  I  say  such  youths,  who  seek  to 
enrich  their  mental  capacities,  clearly  demonstrate  to  us 
that  they  are  seeking  after  GOOD,  and  not  EVIL.  There- 
fore let  the  doors  of  knowledge  be  opened  wide  to  those 
who  thirst  after  it,  —  to  those  whose  high  instincts  recoil 
from  the  degraded  pastimes  of  the  fashionable  youth  of 
the  present  day.  And  let  us  not  forget  that  the  doors 
of  temptation  are  ALWAYS  opened  to  their  fullest  extent, 
with  sirens  (women  who  act  as  catch-traps),  with  their 
painted  faces  and  affected  sweetness,  to  lure  young  men 
in  to  these  swamps  of  iniquity ;  and,  for  want  of  the  right 
kind  of  entertainment,  in  they  walk.  OPEN  WIDE  the 
gate  of  the  field  of  instruction,  with  its  many  trees  of 
knowledge,  and  let  every  man  and  boy  partake  of  what 
is  best  suited  to  their  minds.  This  is  the  best  mode  of 
Decreasing  crime.  This  is  the  best  remedy  to  insure 
the  decrease  of  crimes  that  make  every  true  mother's 

*  Ice-men  in  the  summer  begin  work  at  two,  A.M.,  and  labor  till  six,  P.M., 
for  fifteen  dollars  per  week.  How  would  some  of  the  women  like  this  horse- 
work,  and  so  many  hours'  labor  ? 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  93 

blood  tingle  and  burn  when  she  reads  and  hears  of 

O 

them,  knowing  that  her  young  children  have  to  go 
forth  into  this  badly-organized  state  of  society  in  the 
present  age.  Let  the  same  kind  of  institutions  be  opened 
for  girls ;  and  they  will  gain  far  more  than  by  attending  all 
the  u  women's-rights  "  meetings  in  the  world.  If  women 

g 

wish  to  vote,  surely  they  ought  to  be  made  jit  to  do  so 
by  education.  Some  of  my  readers  will  exclaim,  "  Are 
all  men  fitted  by  education  ?  and  yet  they  vote."  Cer- 
tainly not.  M  ore's  the  pity !  Hence  the  reason  of  this 
state  of  things.  I  am  certain  that  the  majority  of  your 
voters  do  not  understand  the  machinery  of  the  constitu- 
tional government  of  America.  And  would  it  be  wise 
to  increase  this  defect  in  affairs  by  letting  millions  of 
ignorant  women  vote  ?  Reader,  you  know  that  there 
are  thousands  of  women  to-day  that  would  vote  for 
two  opposite  parties  at  one  time,  if  one  offered  them 
a  fine  dress,  and  the  other  side  a  pair  of  ear-rings.  Let 
the  HIGHEST  branches  of  education  be  attainable  for  those 
who  wish  to  DRINK  of  its  refreshing  draughts.  Let  their 
minds  be  illumined  with  the  beauties  of  SOCIAL  POWER, 
and  every  woman  will  find  her  right  place,  her  right 
element,  and  her  right  sphere.  Steinway  Hall  was 
crowded  ;  and  there  were  hundreds  of  boys  listening  in 
rapt  attention  to  the  excellent  entertainment  of  the 
evening.  R.  W.  Morrow's  declamation,  entitled  "  Im- 
pressment of  American  Seamen,"  was  very  good,  and 
nicely  delivered;  but  I  was  sorry  to  hear  so  much  about 


94        THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

Bunker  Hill,  and  the  terrible  boast  of  American 
strength,  and  of  the  Briton's  weakness.  I  was  sorry 
to  hear  such  hatred  evinced  from  such  young  lips  to  the 
"  old  mother-land." 

Thomas  Fitz  Simmons  delivered  a  capital  oration  on 
"  Public  Opinion,"  composed  by  himself.  Oh,  how 
charmed  must  his  mother  have  been  to  hear  him,  if  she 
was  there  !  It  was  really  fine,  and  well  worthy  of  print- 
ing. A  young  man  of  the  name  of  Cunningham  re- 
cited a  piece,  "  The  Rising  of  '61  —  Bunker  Hill ; "  and 
the  poor  English  were  dragged  in  again. 

Reader,  I  came  to  America  twenty-two  years  ago, 
and  I  have  been  to  divers  kind  of  lectures ;  and  I  can 
safely  say  that  I  was  never  at  one  yet,  but  I  heard 
about  "  Bunker  Hill,"  and  how  the  British  got  threshed. 
This  is  bearable  from  men  ;  but  from  boys  it  sounds 
laughable,  yet  terrible.  It  reminds  me  of  some  of  the 
"  young  folks  "  of  the  present  day  that  I  often  meet,  and 
because  they  are  dressed  finer  than  their  parents,  speak 
bad  French,*  play  the  piano  to  distress  you,  they  put  on 
airs,  and  toss  their  heads  at  the  old  mother,  and  say, 
"  Mother,  you  and  father  are  old  fogies.  We  are  young, 
and  know  more  than  you  do."  This  revengeful  spirit 
is  sad  to  beJwld  in  the  young,  un-Christianly  in  the  old ; 
and,  to  say  the  least  of  it,  it  displays  bad  taste  at  all 
times  to  the  refined.  I  said  to  a  man  the  other  day, 
who  was  abusing  the  English,  "  If  America  is  really  so 

*  See  note  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTION'S.  95 

superior  to  Old  England,  be  content  and  grateful,  but 
don't  swagger;  for  then  your  dignity  vanishes  behind  the 
cloud  of  ostentation."  I  recollect,  when  I  was  a  girl,  a 
gentleman  taking  dinner  with  us,  whom  my  mother  had 
known  when  a  child.  Every  thing  he  undertook  he 
prospered  in.  He  had  just  then  returned  from  Ber- 
muda, bringing  home  Lord  Durham's  despatches  to  the 
British  Parliament.  This  circumstance  elated  him 
greatly  ;  and  I  can  so  well  remember  my  mother  looking 
at  him,  and  saying,  "  Samuel,  you're  drunk  with  pros- 
perity:  bear  it  grandly,  nobly,  my  friend,  and  don't 
stagger  as  you  walk  through  your  path  strewed  with 
fragrant  flowers." 

There  is  one  great  trait  in  John  Bull's  character :  he 
appreciates  every  thing  that  is  fine  or  great,  and  cares 
nought  about  whence  it  comes  from,  or  where  a  person 
was  born.  He  feels  something  is  before  him  that  is 
superior,  and  down  he  comes,  heart  and  hand;*  and  he 
will  not  praise  his  own  country  people  simply  because 
they  are  English.  Miss  Bateman,  Miss  Cushman,  Miss 
Kellogg,  Bennet,  jun.,  and  hundreds  of  others,  can 

*  When  the  contest  was  over  between  the  Harvards  and  the  Oxfords,  and  the 
latter  came  out  triumphant,  there  was  not  the  slightest  shadow  of  boast  in 
the  young  Englishmen ;  and  Loring,  Fay,  and  Blakie,  on  their  arrival  in  New 
York,  united  in  expressions  of  gratitude  for  the  kindness  received  from  every 
one  with  whom  they  were  brought  in  contact  while  in  England.  After  a  long 
account  of  the  whole  affair,  "  The  New- York  Herald  "  concluded  by  saying, "  The 
Harvard  boys  speak  in  terms  of  the  highest  praise  of  the  fair  play  and  generous 
good  feeling  manifested  towards  them  by  the  membersvaf  the  boat-clubs,  PEOPLE, 
and  PRESS,  of  England,  from  first  to  last."  This  is  the  sort  of  feeling  that  is  so 
charming  to  behold. 


96       THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

attest  to  this  truth.  I  am  happy  to  say  that  I  can 
scarcely  understand  this  feeling  of  ONLY  admiring  the 
man,  woman,  or  place,  that  happens  to  exist  under  a 
certain  part  of  the  broad  blue  sky  (where  Jwas  born). 
The  grandeur  of  Niagara  Falls  could  not  exceed  their 
magnificence,  in  my  estimation,  if  they  had  been  created 
in  England,  instead  of  AMERICA. 

I  do  not  relish  Beecher,  Phillips,  Chapin,  Longfellow, 
or  any  of  your  great  men's  intellectual  works,  one  atom 
LESS  because  the  first  breath  they  drew  was  on  Colum- 
bia's soil ;  for  in  all  these  creations  the  hand  of  the  Deity 
is  visibly  manifested  to  us ;  and  when  we  can  look  upon 
God's  great  works,  whether  men  or  mountains,  totally 
unprejudiced,  the  beauties  are  so  much  the  greater  to 
the  beholder.  Thank  God,  I  know  and  feel  this  truth  ! 
This  is  a  jewel  that  even  gold  cannot  purchase.  I  was 
glad  to  hear  the  elegant  manner  the  Americans  re- 
ceived my  beloved  countryman,  Dickens  (the  Bos- 
tonians  particularly).  There  was  a  magnanimity  about 
the  reception  that  made  my  heart  glow  towards  them. 
Of  course,  they  knew  that  if  he  did  give  his  ideas 
rather  freely  on  the  Americans,  so  he  did  about  the 
evils  of  all  nations ;  and  to  none  more  copiously  and 
especially  pointed  than  the  English.  I  consider  Dick- 
ens has  done  more  good  for  the  English  poor,  in  ex- 
posing many  of  the  degradations  in  institutions  that 
the  world  at  large  knew  nothing  about,  than  two-thirds 
of  our  bombastic  clergymen.  I  was  much  shocked 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  97 

to  learn  of  the  un-Cliristianly  gathering  of  the  "  HOLY 
men  "  at  the  Temple,  "  casting  stones  "  at  one  unable  to 
speak  for  himself,  giving  their  puny  judgment  of  the 
whereabouts  of  this  man's  sold.  They  must  surely  have 
forgotten  Christ's  divine  words,  "  Judge  not,  lest  ye  be 
judged."  "Condemn  not,  lest  YE  be  condemned."*  I 
was  glad  to  see  the  "  Press  "  so  unanimously  disgusted. f 
A  Boston  paper  compared  Mr.  Fulton  to  a  "  live  ass 
kicking  a  dead  LION."  As  I  advance  in  years  and 
experience,  I  cannot  but  feel  the  beneficent  mercy  of  a 
HOLY  Crod  to  poor  erring  sinners,  and  the  merciless 
brutality  of  sinners  one  to  another.  These  observations 
have  assisted  my  education  greatly. 

In  my  own  family,  this  unfortunate  antagonistic  feel- 
ing frequently  manifests  itself.  Daniel  was  born  in 
America :  so  would  Willie  have  been,  if  I  had  waited 
two  months  longer  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  Conse- 
quently, they  have  bickerings  about  things  that  they  do 
not  comprehend.  Kings,  Presidents,  schools,  laws,  and 
customs,  are  discussed  between  these  eleven  and  fifteen 
years  old  young  men,  in  a  manner  sometimes  most 
laughable  to  hear.  When  these  learned  youths  go  too 
far,  I  tell  them  of  an  old  shepherd  I  once  heard  of,  who 

*  "  For  God  sent  not  his  Son  into  the  world  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that 
the  world  through  him  might  be  saved."  — John  iii.  17. 

f  I  must  publicly  thank  the  Rev.  W.  R.  Alger  for  the  grand  sermon  he 
delivered  at  Music  Hall,  June  19,  1870,  on  "  The  Christian  Genius  and  Memory 
of  Charles  Dickens."  Likewise  the  Rev.  B.  F.  Bowles  of  Cambridge:  a  lady 
told  me  it  was  superb. 


98       THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

suddenly  became  very  rich  ;  and,  after  building  an  ele- 
gant mansion,  he  reserved  one  room  for  his  cottage- 
furniture,  clothes,  and  crook.  And,  whenever  he  felt 
getting  proud,  he  would  unlock  this  room-door,  and  take 
a  look  at  these  articles,  so  as  to  remember  what  he 
sprang  from.  So  I  tell  these  boys  to  remember  two 
things  :  first,  Master  America,  that  he  must  read  the 
history  of  his  country,  and  he  will  find  that  it  was 
founded  and  peopled  by  the  English;  and  that,  when 
the  first  war  took  place,  it  was  actually  a  civil  war,  — 
English  against  ENGLISH  !  Secondly,  I  tell  my  young 
John  Bull  to  bear  in  mind,  that  if  the  "  Old  Bull  "  had 
not  been  so  fond  of  using  his  horns  of  tyranny,  and 
showing  his  cloven  foot  of  oppression  ONCE  TOO  often, 
harmony,  and  not  discord,  would  have  reigned ;  and, 
although  the  mighty  Atlantic  divided  their  abodes,  the 
hearts  and  interests  of  these  two  nations  would  have 
been  cemented  by  true  love,  which  would  have  endured 
FOREVER.  I  think  it  would  be  well  for  us  all,  sometimes, 
if,  like  the  old  shepherd,  we  took  a  glance  at  the  cer- 
tainty of  what  we  sprang  from,  —  the  EARTH,  —  and 
(notwithstanding  all  we  hear,  read,  and  see)  the  uncer- 
tainty of  our  destination  when  we  DO  "  cast  off  our  mor- 
tal coil."  If  we  carried  these  thoughts  uppermost  in 
our  minds  in  our  daily  walk  of  life,  I  firmly  believe  we 
would  be  more  tender  and  considerate  one  to  another ; 
and  there  would  be  an  increase  of  real  happiness,  and 
a  decrease  in  crime,  at  the  present  moment,  among  every 
class,  whether  rich  or  poor. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  99 

I  cannot  help  feeling  the  sterling  truth  of  a  fine 
speech  delivered  by  Gen.  Joseph  Hooker  to  the  soldiers, 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  late  war.  He  said,  "  The  glory 
is  due,  not  to  us  alone  who  have  commanded,  but  those 
who  have  suffered,  night  and  day,  to  bring  it  about,  — 
to  those  who  slept  in  trenches,  and  who  fought,  and  who 
bled,  on  the  battle-field;  to  those  who  followed  my 
orders,  and  the  orders  of  others  elsewhere."  What  gen- 
uine philanthropy  was  expressed  in  this  speech !  its 
chief  beauty  and  eloquence  consisting  in  its  simplicity 
and  its  truth.  This  address  was  to  all  the  soldiers  ;  and 
no  mention  of  country  was  made.  I  hate  to  hear  people 
say,  "  He's  only  an  Irishman  ;  he's  only  a  Dutchman  ;  " 
and  so  on.  The  Americans  should  exclaim,  "  We  care 
not  where  his  birthplace  may  be  situated,  we  know  he  is  a 
Union  man  !  "  This  is  the  word  for  Americans  to  look 
to,  —  "  union."  It  is  "  union  "  makes  marriage  holy. 
It  is  "  union  "  makes  all  our  different  societies  of  long 
standing.  It  was  "  union  "  brought  the  late  "  Peace 

O  O 

Jubilee,"  when  all  voices  of  all  nations  joined  in  one 
hallowed  song,  in  which  mingled  the  tiny,  dulcet  strains 
of  the  orphans  of  the  soldiers,  singing,  as  it  were,  a  Dirge 
over  their  dead  fathers,  which  went  direct  up  to  Christ, 
who  blessed  little  children,  without  deference  or  refer- 
ence to  any  nation. 

We  are  all  cognizant  of  this  truth,  that  during  the 
war,  when  young  men,  mere  striplings  just  entering  the 
morning  of  life,  others  vigorous  and  stalwart,  volun- 


100     THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,   AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

teered  their  services,  leaving  all  that  was  near  and  dear 
to  them  for  the  Union,  nobody  then  asked  the  question, 
"  To  what  nation  do  you  belong?  "  They  did  not  even  ask 
the  black  man  to  turn  white.  This  fact  ought  to  be  for- 
ever remembered  by  all  Americans,  and  clearly  demon- 
strate to  them,  that  when  respectable  men  come  to  this 
country,  adopting  it  as  their  own,  to  work  in  it  and  to 
fyhtfor  it,  the  nation  will  be  all  the  stronger  and  all  the 
greater,  when  becoming  one  united  band  of  brothers. 

I  think  young  America  should  never  forget  that  the 
early  Puritans  were  the  progenitors  of  one-third  of  the 
white  population  of  the  United  States  at  the  present 
time.  There  came  over  twenty-one  thousand  two  hun- 
dred persons  at  once  ;  and  their  descendants  now  amount 
to  millions.  And  when  these  brave  people  left  their  native 
soil  to  gain  true  freedom,  they  still  remembered  the  old 
land  of  their  birth,  and  christened  the  part  they  landed 
on  New  England,  after  the  old  mother-country, — just 
as  affectionate  children  call  their  children  after  the  "  old 
folks  at  home."  The  names  of  the  New-England  States 
remind  me  so  vividly  of  my  own  country,  that  I  could 
not  help  weeping  when  I  first  heard  them  mentioned. 
The  sound  of  Plymouth  thrilled  me ;  for  it  was  there 
I  was  born ;  there  I  passed  many  happy  years  of  my 
girlhood  ;  there  I  stepped  out  from  my  loving  mother's 
embrace  into  the  cold,  wide  world. 

No  American  should  forget  that  Washington  and  his 
wife  Martha  had  a  large  portion  of  English  blood  in 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  101 

them  ;  Benjamin  Franklin,  William  Penn,  and  Daniel 
Boone,  the  same.  And  yet,  when  Grant  was  elected, 
a  paper  happening  to  state  he  was  of  English  descent, 
another  daily  took  up  the  assertion  in  the  most  indignant 
manner,  as  if  it  was  a  crime,  and  affirmed  that  he  was  of 
Scotch  origin,  and  descended  from  the  Earl  of  Seafield. 

O        ' 

However,  if  Grant  does  one-half  as  much  as  the  really 
great  and  unostentatious  Washington  did  for  this  coun- 
try, I  feel  certain  all  true  Americans  will  care  but  little 
where  his  forefathers  were  born,  or  whether  they  were 
Dutch  or  Welsh.  I  admire  President  Grant ;  and,  if  I 
had  fifty  votes,  I  would  give  them  all  to  him.  The  more 
I  hear  about  him,  the  more  I  admire  him.  A  great 
many  schemers  thought  to  turn  him  round  and  round, 
like  the  handle  of  a  coffee-mill,  at  their  will  and  pleas- 
ure ;  but  he  has  plainly  let  them  see  that  they  have 
labored  under  a  small  mistake.  Grant  has  evidently  a 
mind  of  his  OWN  ;  and  no  man  is  fit  to  RULE  that  has 
not,  — neither  as  a  general  nor  a  president.  We  are  now 
enjoying  peace  through  his  fine  tactician  powers  (as  a 
General)  :  that  has  been  proved.  And  I  have  not  a 
doubt  we  will  find  him  as  capable  to  fill  the  high  position 
he  now  holds,  —  that  of  the  "  President  of  the  United 
States." 

I  am  a  believer  in  good  blood  ;  and,  before  I  finish, 
I  will  give  you  my  ideas  on  the  subject. 

I  am  now  going  back  to  the  reason  of  the  increase  of 
crime.  Exterior  equality  is  decidedly  another  great 


102      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

cause  of  this  existing  evil.  The  man  whose  income  is 
from  two  to  three  thousand  a  year  apes  every  thing  that 
his  neighbor  does  who  may  be  worth  eight  or  ten  thou- 
sand per  annum.  His  wife  will  have  as  expensive  a  man- 
tle ;  will  have  season-tickets  for  the  opera  ;  will  give 
soirSes  on  the  same  magnificent  scale.  Where  does  the 
money  come  from  ?  The  working-girl  dresses  as  nearly 
as  possible  like  the  young  lady  of  fortune,  whom  she 
cannot  approach,  either  financially  or  in  an  educational 
point.  Where  does  the  money  come  from  ?  This  at- 
tempt at  equality  by  dress  only  is  dangerous  and  slippery 
ground  for  the  working-girl  to  walk  on  ;  and  'too  often 

0  o  o 

she  slides  down,  away  from  the  modest,  innocent  girl, 
into  the  flashily-dressed,  painted  woman  of  the  street. 
And  what  for? — Tawdry  dress!  I  heard  a  woman 
say,  at  "  The  Working-Woman's  Convention,"  that 
every  fine  dress  a  lady  had  made,  caused,  on  an  average, 
two  women  to  fall !  She  used  stronger  language  than 
this ;  but  I  do  not  care  to  repeat  it. 

I  differ  greatly  with  this  assertion  :  and  the  truth  is, 

1  scarcely  understand  what  she  meant ;    for  I  am  sure 
that  every  fashionably-made  dress  costs  one-half  its  value 
to  get  it  made.     It  is  the  "firms  "  who  employ  these 
girls,  and  not  the  public,  that  pay  so  badly.    I  think  my 
definition  of  the  cause  of  the  increase  of  the  unfortunate 
women  of  this  age  is  the  lest.    It  emanates  in  this  MAD- 
NESS for  DRESS,  and  the  great  desire  to  appear  ladies  ; 
which  they  cannot  be  concocted  into  even  by  a  FRENCH 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  103 

milliner  and  dressmaker.  Nothing  but  social  refinement 
and  education,  combined  with  modesty,  can  achieve  this. 
Ask  two-thirds  of  these  women  whether  starvation,  or 
the  love  of  dress,  brought  them  to  their  degraded  state ; 
and  I  will  guarantee  they  will  answer,  "  Dress." 

I  wish  to  be  most  emphatic  on  another  glaring  CAUSE 
of  the  "  increase  of  crime."  I  frequently  read  comments 
about  servants  not  knowing  and  performing  their  proper 
duties ;  in  fact,  of  their  incompetency  to  fill  the  office 
they  apply  for  :  and  it  is  the  truth.  But  the  Americans 
have  themselves  to  thank  for  this  state  of  affairs.  They 
have  no  institution  to  train  girls  for  this  most  respectable 
vocation.  The  NAME  u  SERVANT  "  is  thought  derogatory 
in  this  country,  —  a  country  where  labor  is  said  to  be  so 
highly  estimated.  This  undeniable  fact  has  frequently 
astonished  me. 

In  Boston,  a  short  time  ago,  a  hundred  and  eighty 
unfortunate  girls  were  arrested  in  one  night;  and  I  doubt 
not  that  the  greater  portion  of  them  could  have  once 
been  respectable  servants,  but  considered  the  office  and 
NAME  too  low !  And  what  kind  of  a  NAME  have  they 
NOW  ?  What  future  have  these  women  to  look  forward  to  ? 
Generally,  the  world's  COLD,  NIPPING  SCORN,  combined 
with  ill  health  and  destitution.  A  girl  would  much 
rather  work  in  a  factory  or  a  "saloon,"  because  she  can 
be  called  "  Miss,"  dress  finer,  and  imagine  she  will  be 
thought  SL  lady!  Poor  girl !  It  is  this  DELUSION,  this 
FALSE  PRIDE,  that  crowds  the  streets  nightly  with  pretty 


104     THE  INCREASE  OF  CHIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

young  girls,  some  of  whom,  I  learn,  can  only  count 
twelve  short  summers  !  With  Hamlet  I  exclaim,  "  Oh, 
horrible !  most  horrible !  "  I  lived  in  the  house  with 
a  girl,  Annie  C.,  not  seventeen ;  and  she  attended  in 
a  restaurant.  I  once  said  to  her,  "  Why  do  you  not  take 
the  situation  of  a  seamstress  or  a  nurse  in  a  gentleman's 
family  ?  "  She  turned  upon  me  in  the  most  insolent 
way,  saying,  " Me  be  a  servant?  That  will  do  very 
well  for  you  English;  but  I  am  an  American,  and  feel 
myself  as  good  as  anybody."  I  wish  some  kind  reader 
would  inform  me  the  difference  of  rank  between  a  per- 
son attending  on  respectable  people  at  a  private  house 
and  one  at  &  public  house,  where  any  degraded  man  who 
pays  for  his  dinner  can  order  this  said  independent  young 
lady  to  wait  on  him.  However,  this  girl  afterwards 
went  as  a  BALLET-GIRL  at  one  of  the  lowest  places  in 
Boston  ;  and  the  last  account  I  heard  of  her  was,  she 
was  travelling  with  an  Ethiopian  troop  alone,  —  no 
MOTHER  to  guide  or  guard  her  from  the  evil  influences 
she  is  surrounded  by !  *  Poor  young  creature  !  Reader, 
what  do  you  think  her  end  will  be  ?  The  truth  is,  that 
after  a  girl  or  boy  is  fifteen  years  old,  in  this  country, 
they  consider  themselves  persons  of 'sound  judgment;  and 
parents  actually  look  up  to  these  sprites  with  a  sort  of 
deferential  fear.f  I  have  seen  this  girl  painted  so  glar- 

*  At  the  end  of  this  chapter  I  will  insert  two  letters  from  my  daughter  and 
her  husband,  showing  that  I  am  not  preaching  to  rny  readers  what  I  do  not 
practise  to  my  own  children. 

t  Another  short  note,  at  the  end  of  this  chapter,  on  the  lack  of  obedience 
among  children  in  this  age. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  105 

ingly,  that,  had  her  mother  acted  rightly,  she  would  have 
thrown  the  rouge  in  the  fire,  locked  her  up  in  her  room, 
and  kept  her  on  bread  and  water  till  she  came  to  her 
senses.  Should  this  statement  meet  the  eye  of  any  girl 
beginning  a  similar  career,  give  me  leave  to  inform 
her  that  a  genteel  English  servant  would  not  be  seen 
walking  or  talking  to  a  "  ballet-girl,"  or  a  girl  living  in 
a  public  house.  No  woman  has  more  respect  for  herself 
than  a  well-bred  English  servant,  and  consequently  is 
respected  by  all  well-bred  people.  You  can  generally 
tell  what  quality  of  inmates  are  in  the  house  when  you 
see  the  girl  that  admits  you.  It  is  a  monstrous  mistake 
to  imagine  that  men  and  women  who  know  and  perform 
their  proper  duties  are  slaves.  I  think  they  are  only 
sensible.  I  love  to  see  our  fresh-faced,  plump  English 
girls,  not  too  proud  to  wear  a  natty  lace  cap,  —  white 
linen  apron,  collar,  and  cuffs  to  match,  —  always  looking 
so  clean,  and  consistent  for  their  position. 

Twenty  years  ago,  THE  PLYMOUTH  BRETHREN  OR 
SAINTS  (in  England)  sold  all  their  fine  furniture,  dresses, 
and  jewelry ;  and  some  made  their  servants  sit  at  the 
same  table  with  them.  This  went  on  at  one  house  for 
nearly  a  month ;  when  one  morning,  as  the  mistress  en- 
tered the  room,  the  servants  rose  in  a  body,  and  de- 
manded that  the  kitchen  *  should  be  once  more  theirs,  or 

*  The  furniture  in  an  English  kitchen  has  not  the  slightest  attempt  at  trying 
to  ape  the  parlor.  The  tables  and  chairs  are  of  the  whitest  deal,  no  carpet  or 
oil-cloth  on  the  floor,  which  matches  the  tables  to  perfection  in  color,  and  all  the 
covers  of  the  dishes  and  pots  shining  like  "  gold  and  silver"  over  the  mantle- 
piece.  I  think  these  demonstrations  are  in  excellent  taste. 


106       THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

they  would  all  leave,  as  they  had  been  much  more  com- 
fortable under  the  old  regulations.  The  servants  con- 
quered ;  and  the  lady  succumbed. 

I  stopped  two  nights  at  a  hotel  in  Lawrence,  a  short 
time  ago.  The  girl  that  attended  the  table  wore  a 
light-green  dress,  with  white,  clear  muslin  jacket,  show- 
ing a  very  low-neck  body  underneath ;  over-skirt  of 
the  same,  trimmed  with  lace ;  gilt  bracelets,  long  ear- 
rings, and  breast-pin.  She  had  short  curls  in  front 
(they  reminded  me  of  earth-worms  writhing  in  agony)  ; 
her  waterfall  large  enough  for  a  child's  pillow.  Did  this 
dress  not  look  far  more  fit  to  go  to  an  evening  party 
than  working  earnestly  and  faithfully  for  her  employer, 
from  whom  she  expects  proper  remuneration  ?  And,  if 
the  mistress  should  make  a  comment,  the  retort  would 
be,  "  I  am  as  good  as  you."  I  wish  I  had  as  many  dol- 
lars as  I  have  had  these  stupid,  impertinent  words  said 
to  me. 

I  remember  a  highly-bred  Irish  lady  making  a  call 
upon  my  mother,  and,  in  the  course  of  a  conversation, 
remarking  that  she  should  have  to  discharge  her  parlor- 
maid, as,  during  her  absence,  she  had  learned  that  the  girl 
had  opened  the  door  with  a  CHECK  apron  on,  instead  of 
a  white  one ;  showing  that  she  was  not  a  thorough-bred 
servant.  Allowing  that  this  was  carrying  matters  too 
far,  still,  when  a  girl  knows  that  it  is  expected  she  shall 
wear  a  white  apron,  wear  it  she  should.  And,  if  it  is 
ever  in  my  power  to  keep  servants  again,  their  style 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  107 

of  dress  shall  be  an  understood  thing  before  they  are  in- 
stalled in  my  employ.  If  young  women  knew  how  sweet 
they  look  in  a  pretty  colored  or  white  muslin  dress,  and 
how  well  it  accords  with  their  bright,  smiling  faces,  lit 
up  with  health  and  youth,  I  am  sure  they  would  not 
dun  their  hardworking  fathers  or  husbands  for  expensive 
articles,  nor  lower  themselves  by  degraded  acts  to  obtain 
them.  Hundreds  of  parents  at  this  moment  would  have 
a  happier  countenance,  and  not  that  careworn,  wretched 
look  that  we  so  frequently  see  when  honest  people  get 
in  debt  incurred  by  living  beyond  their  means. 

An  English  servant  will  frequently  live  from  fifteen 
to  thirty  years  in  a  family.  My  grandmother  kept  one 
servant  twenty-two  years  ;  Mr.  Hoar's  housekeeper  has 
lived  twenty-eight  years  in  his  family  ;  and  a  man-ser- 
vant of  my  grandfather  lived  with  him  thirty  years. 
These  people  have  been  taught  the  art  of  being  true 
servants  ;  for  there  is  an  art  in  every  thing,  from  the 
WASH-TUB  up  to  the  piano,  —  from  the  building  of  a  FIRE 
to  the  building  of  a  FORTRESS.  If  girls  would  only  give 
these  facts  mature  consideration,  and  act  upon  them,  we 
would  have  a  re-organization  of  society  in  a  few  years ; 
and  God  knows  we  stand  wofully  in  want  of  it  at  the 
present  moment.  Young  men  would  not  be  afraid  to 
marry,  as  they  now  are  (which  I  do  not  wonder  at), 
consequently  would  not  be  led  into  the  temptations  that 
they  are  in  the  single  state ;  for  marriage  is  one  sure 
step  towards  morality,  consequently  decreases  crime. 


108      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

And  I  wish  girls  of  every  class  to  remember,  that  if  a 
woman  dressed  in  a  calico,  merino,  or  muslin,  does  not 
feel  and  look  a  lady,  the  richest  velvet  will  not  have  the 
desired  effect.  The  genuine,  well-bred  man  or  woman, 
with  a  high  tone  of  mind  and  manner,  will  shine  out 
from  beneath  the  plainest  garb ;  and  shoddy  vulgari- 
ty, even  should  it  be  incased  in  rubies  and  diamonds, 
will  only  be  rendered  the  more  obvious  and  conspicuous 
to  those  who  at  a  glance  can  discover  the  difference,  — 
to  those  who  cannot  be  deceived,  even  by  the  radiant 
sparkling  of  these  richest  of  gems. 

I  wish  girls  of  every  grade,  both  rich  and  poor, 
to  bear  in  mind  that  a  man  worth  having  will  prefer  a 
woman  with  a  well-stored  mind,  and  genuine  moral 
worth,  for  his  wife,  —  even  should  her  physical  appear- 
ance lack  what  is  termed  beauty,  and  her  attire  be  of  the 
most  humble  kind,  —  to  the  senseless  creature  whose 
capacious  brain  soars  no  higher  than  dress.  I  have  seen 
both  men  and  women  without  one  handsome  feature ; 
and,  on  conversing  with  them,  their  faces  have  lit  up 
with  manly  or  womanly  intellect,  and  I  have  found  my- 
self ten  times  more  charmed  with  them  than  all  the 
"  GRECIAN  BENDS,"  GRECIAN  NOSES,  liquid  blue  eyes, 
or  brown  VELVET  ones,  could  have  effected,  —  charmed 
with  the  depth  and  expanse  of  their  minds  !  What  a 
grand  thing  to  contemplate  !  What  a  purity  of  thought 
must  dwell  in  such  beings !  What  greatness  of  soul 
they  must  possess,  when  all  that  is  defined  as  plain  and 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  109 

homely  vanishes,  and  we  see  this  intrinsic  worth  shining 
in  all  its  radiant  glory  before  us  !  These  are  the  men  and 
women  that  are  the  nearest  approach  to  the  image  of 
their  Maker.  Young  men  and  maidens,  cultivate  your 
minds ;  for  it  is  something  that  will  always  stand  by  you, 
either  in  affluence  or  poverty,  —  something  that  you  will 
never  regret.  Remember,  education  is  open  to  all,  and 
will  raise  you  as  high  as  your  highest  aspirations  can  de- 
sire, or  aspire  to.  Bear  in  mind  that  all  our  greatest  men, 
both  in  England  and  America,  —  in  fact,  all  over  the 
world,  —  have  labored  under  the  most  excruciating  diffi- 
culties to  attain  the  high  position  that  it  is  evident  God 
meant  they  should  fill.*  Still  you  must  not  imagine  that 
I  am  invulnerable  to  a  pair  of  superb  eyes,  a  hand- 
some mustache,  or  a  silky  beard.  Oh,  no  !  Even  if  I 
am  emaciated,  and  far  advanced  in  years,  I  appreciate 
them  for  all  they  are  worth,  — fascinating  to  behold ; 
but  we  soon  weary  of  looking  at  them,  on  ascertaining 
that  the  head  is  empty,  the  principles  loose,  and  the  heart 
as  impervious  to  good  as  adamant  is  to  the  blow  of  a  pin, 
—  in  fact,  that  good  dwelleth  not  in  their  composition, 
however  beautiful  the  exterior  may  appear  to  us  at  first 
sight.  Such  people  are  simply  pretty  living  pictures 
walking  about  the  earth,  deriding  every  thing  they  are 


*  Read  "  The  Identification  of  the  Artisan  and  the  Artist  the  Proper  Ob- 
ject of  American  Education."  Illustrated  by  a  lecture  of  Cardinal  Wiseman, 
addressed  to  American  workingmen  and  educators,  with  an  essay  on  Frcebel'a 
"  Reform  of  Primary  Education."  By  Elizabeth  P.  Peabody.  It  is.  grand. 


110      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

incapable  of  understanding.  Handsome  men  and  women 
without  a  mind,  I  compare  to  gaudy  flowers  without  per- 
fume, or  a  noxious  one.  The  tulip,  poppy,  and  holly- 
hock look  very  elegant  in  the  garden ;  but  we  do  not  want 
any  social  intercourse  with  them ;  we  do  not  crave  for 
them  in  our  bouquets.  They  please  our  eyes,  but  fail  to 
touch  our  sympathies. 

I  am  a  great  lover  of  beauty.  I  walked  four  miles  in 
the  snow  once  to  see  a  beautiful  woman.  I  see  beauty 
in  every  stage  of  life.  There  is  beauty  in  the  holy,  un- 
contaminated,  innocent  babe  (pure  humanity  coming 
direct  from  G-od).  There  is  beauty  in  the  fresh  spring- 
tide of  girlhood,  with  her  elastic  step  and  joyous  laugh. 
There  is  beauty  in  the  summer-time  of  womanhood. 
There  is  beauty  in  the  more  developed  woman,  in  the 
autumn  of  our  lives,  when  our  reflective  powers  are 
brought  into  greater  action,  reviewing  the  UNRECALLABLE 
"  PAST"  with  REGRET,  and  walking  forward  towards  the 
INVISIBLE  FUTURE  with  HOPE  and  FAITH  stamped  firmly 
upon  our  brow.  There  is  beauty  in  the  calm  dignity 
of  wintry  old  age,  IF  the  PRECEDING  life  has  been  that 
of  a  CHRISTIAN.  Yes,  this  is  something  grand  to  behold, 
—  men  and  women,  looking  upward  with  a  holy  joy, 
longing  for  the  hour  when  God  shall  claim  them  as  his 
own. 

With  regard  to  equality,  it  is  impossible  for  it  ever  to 
exist  in  this  world.  You  put  five  hundred  people  on  a 
little  island,  give  each  five  hundred  dollars  (all  of  them 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  Ill 

witli  equal  advantages  in  every  thing),  and,  at  the  end 
of  twenty  years,  visit  them,  and  you  will  find  that  their 
different  tastes,  abilities,  and  actions,  have  separated  them 
as  effectually  as  any  aristocrat  could  desire.  Our  deter- 
mination of  character,  our  tact,  our  perseverance,  our  dis- 
tinct quality  and  QUANTITY. of  the  HIGHER  and  LOWER 
passions,  divides  us  into  different  grades  and  classes.* 
The  very  dogs  teach  us  that  "blood  will  tell."  Behold 
the  superior,  useful  Newfoundland  dog,  the  elegantly- 
shaped  greyhound,  the  King-Charles  dog,  and  the  harm- 
less lap-dog,  with  its  pretty  flaxen  curls ;  and  then  look 
at  the  New-York  Water-street  dogs,  whose  pictures 
I  saw  lately,  —  monsters  to  behold  !  —  and,  I  am  sorry 
to  add,  their  trainers  —  meant  for  men  —  looked  scarcely 
an  atom  above  them  in  expression.  Why,  there  are  as 
many  natural  divisions  in  canine  society  as  any  old  John 
Bull  can  desire. 

The  formation  of  the  earth  teaches  us  this  truth.  The 
hills  and  the  dales,  the  mountains  and  the  valleys,  the 
richness  of  one  soil  and  the  barrenness  of  another,  the 
powerful  intellect  of  some  men  and  the  shallowness  of 
others,  the  goodness  of  some  men  and  the  baseness  of 
others,  —  all  these  natural  distinctions  are  LIVING  proofs 
that  EQUALITY  does  NOT  exist,  and  never  will  on  this 
globe. 

Reader,  if  you  are  an  educated  and  capable  man,  and 

*  Dr.  Maudsley  of  London  repudiates  the  idea  which  assumes  that  all  men 
are  born  with  equal  original  mental  capacity. 


112      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

good,  hut  poor,  and  I  am  an  incapable  man,  and  have  a 
dubious  sort  of  a  character,  but  rich,  am  I  your  equal  ? 
Certainly  not ;  yet  you  know  the  world  would  call  me 
your  superior.  How  can  we  wonder  at  the  increase  of 
crime  under  this  existing  demoralizing  state  of  society  ? 
The  terrible  desire  that  reigns  among  the  masses  for 
equality  is  doing  much  mischief.  The  terrible  love  of 
dress  displayed  by  both  sexes  is  doing  more ;  and 
the  horror  that  people  evince  at  being  poor,  or  even 
thought  poor,  is,  in  my  estimation,  another  cause  of  the 
increase  of  CRIME,  because  poverty  is  usually  viewed  as 
something  debasing,  as  something  to  be  avoided;  not 
because  it  is  hard  and  painful  to  the  parties  who  brave 
it,  and  grapple  with  it,  to  bear,  but  that  it  is  loathsome 
to  those  who  behold  it.  In  fact,  it  is  judged  as  a  de- 
graded evil,  caused  by  some  vice.  And  yet  we  are  aware 
that  hundreds  of  our  noblest  men  of  genius,  and  Chris- 
tian men,  have  contended  for  years  with  this  direful 
enemy  ;  and,  bravely  as  they  have  fought,  they  have  not 
always  conquered.*  Dr.  Johnson  wrote  "  Rasselas  "  in  a 
garret  by  the  deathbed  of  his  mother.  Otway  died  of  eat- 
ing a  roll  too  fast  when  nearly  starving.  Dryden  was 
,.  dreadfully  poor.  The  mighty  Homer  begged  his  bread. 

*  Dr.  R.  Sheldon  Mackenzie  wrote  an  excellent  article  in  Saturday  Night, 
acme  weeks  ago,  entitled,  Self-Made  Men,  Money-Makers,  Fame  vs.  Wealth. 
He  says,  "  It  is  not  the  good  a  person  does,  but  the  MONEY  he  may  make  in 
doing  it,  entitles  him  to  rank  among  the  '  self-made  men.' "  He  remarks  that 
Pope  wrote,  "  '  Worth  makes  the  man,  and  the  want  of  it  the  Fellow; '"  and 
adds,  "  but  methinks  the  American  reading  is, '  CASH  makes  the  man.' " 


WITH  A   FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  113 

"  Burns,"  one  of  God's  nobility,  suffered  great  poverty. 
Everybody  remembers  what  indigence  our  admirable 
"Goldsmith"  endured.  Poor  young  "  Chatterton," 
teeming  with  genius,  in  a  weak  moment  put  an  end  to  his 
life  in  an  obscure  attic,  tempted  by  this  foul  fiend.  And, 
I  am  sorry  to  add,  I  could  fill  many  long  pages  with  the 
names  of  great  men  who  have  suffered  the  bitterest  of 
poverty.  I  read,  not  long  ago,  in  u  The  New-York 
Sun,"  that  an  artist  who  had  just  finished  a  FINE  pic- 
ture, had,  for  a  long  time,  been  struggling  in  penury. 

A  writer  whose  name  I  forget  (Curtis,  I  think)  says, 
"  There  is  a  law  of  the  moral  government  of  the  uni- 
verse which  ordains  that  all  that  is  great  and  valuable 
and  permanent  in  character  must  be  the  result,  not  of 
theoretical  teaching  or  natural  aspiration,  of  spontaneous 
resolve  or  uninterrupted  success,  but  of  trial,  of  suffer- 
ing, of  the  fiery  furnace  of  temptation,  of  the  dark  hours 
of  disappointment  and  defeat." 

We  are  aware  that  hundreds  of  our  most  womanly 
and  sweetest  of  women  have  labored  for  years  before 
they  could  emerge  from  obscurity.  But  we  have  not 
all  been  trained  by  the  same  kind  of  mother ;  we  have 
not  all  been  taught  to  bear  and  forbear  :  therefore,  tak- 
ing these  things  into  consideration,  we  can  scarcely  won- 
der that  the  women  who  can  work,  and  are  willing  to 
work,  start  up  and  ask  for  MEN'S  rights,  when  they 
do  not;  get  their  own.  And  I  attest,  that  if  a  woman  can 
work  as  well  as  a  man;  and  desires  to  do  men's  work, 

8 


114     THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,   AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

why,  there  is  no  question  about  it  but  she  ought  to  be 
paid  equal  to  a  man. 

Reader,  we  can  scarcely  wonder  at  the  dread  poverty 
is  held  in  when  we  consider  how  the  poor  are  oppressed. 
Wliat  an  infamous  tax  is  the  pawn-shop,  where  the 
poor  are  the  usual  frequenters  !  In  New  York,  if  fifty 
cents  or  a  dollar  is  borrowed,  five  cents  is  deducted  at 
the  time  for  the  stamp,  besides  three  cents  on  each  dollar 
a  month ;  and,  in  Boston,  five  cents  a  WEEK  on  EACH 
dollar,  or  even  fifty  cents  ;  and  at  the  end  of  four  weeks, 
if  the  article  is  not  redeemed,  or  the  interest  paid  up,  the 
goods  that  the  poor  man  or  woman  has  labored  so  hard 
to  get  are  gone.  And  this  robbery  is  LAWFUL  :  but  the 
LAW-makers  don  t  feel  it;  only  the  POOR,  who  are  obliged 
to  bear  this  DARING  THEFT,  —  yes,  as  daring  as  the 
Broadway  murder  of  Rodgers  in  New  York.  I  would 
remark  to  those  who  hate  the  English,  that  this  obnox- 
ious law  exceeds  even  the  overbearing  laws  of  that 
country. 

Reader,  of  course  you  know  that  in  1765,  when  the 
famous  Stamp  Act  was  passed  in  the  British  parlia- 
ment, on  the  news  reaching  Boston,  the  bells  were  muf- 
fled, and  rang  a  funeral-peal ;  and  so  great  was  the  oppo- 
sition to  the  act,  that  it  was  repealed  during  the  spring 
of  1766.  This  shows  us  how  quickly  the  evils  of  society 
can  be  put  down  if  people  set  to  work  in  EARNEST.  In 
New  York,  the  "Act"  was  carried  through  the  streets 
with  a  Death's-head  bearing  this  inscription,  "  The  folly 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID    QUESTIONS.  115 

of  England,  and  the  ruin  of  America."  And  God  knows, 
there  could  be  hundreds  of  live  heads  carried  through 

o 

New  York  to-day,  so  closely  resembling  death,  that  you 
could  scarcely  detect  the  difference.  Another  outrage 
on  the  poor  is,  that,  if  they  are  unable  to  pay  their  rent 
in  advance,  they  are  put  into  the  street.  And  yet  how 
many  thousands  of  those  who  live  beyond  their  income, 
and  pass  for  rich  people,  are  owing  thousands,  and  com- 
promise by  paying  twenty-five  or  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar, 
STILL  keeping  a  fine  house,  and  consequently  are  STILL 
respected.  Think  you  not,  reader,  that  the  poor  observe 
this  educated  chicanery  ?  Of  course.  And  this  is  what 
the  depraved  and  weak-minded  poor  give  for  an  excuse. 
They  say,  "  Look  at  your  ivealthy  thieves,  and  don't  talk 
to  us  about  honesty,  —  we  poor,  who  steal  because  we 
want  the  necessaries  of  life  for  our  children."  Does 
not  such  knowledge  as  this  teach  us  to  have  compassion 
on  this  class  of  unhappy  poor  ?  And  does  not  such 
knowledge  teach  us  to  honor  the  other  class  of  poor  ?  — 
those  who  (as  I  before  remarked)  cannot  be  even  starved 
into  crime  ?  —  those  who  do  not  accept  the  wages  of  sin. 
Ah,  my  friends,  poverty  is  a  barren  soil  to  live  on  ;  and 
too  often  the  only  showers  that  moisten  it  are  tears  that 
flow  forth  from  a  wounded  heart.  I  say  again,  if  we 
wish  a  decrease  in  crime,  let  us  honor  the  respectable 
poor.  And  let  us  remember  that  it  requires  the  heroic 
valor  of  the  bravest  soldier  who  voluntarily  faces  the 
mouth  of  the  cannon  to  contend  with  the  iron  arm  of 


116     THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

this  licensed  civilized  MAMMOTH  GIANT,  Oppression,  who 
has  been  for  a  number  of  years  stretching  his  uncouth, 
unwieldy,  gigantic  limbs  throughout  the  Old  World,  and, 
I  am  sorry  to  add,  has  at  last  found  a  firm  standing  in 
free  America.  Let  it  be  put  down  at  once,  if  you  wish 
to  retain  your  greatness  and  yom*  freedom. 

Good  reader,  I  pray  you  take  notice  how  the  many 
mock  philanthropists  turn  a  deaf  ear  on  the  wrongs  of 
this  class  of  poor,  because  there  would  not  be  publicity 
given  them  ;  the  papers  would  not  teem  with  the  noble 
deeds  of  these  pharisees.  O  ye  mockers  of  Christ's 
charity  !  think  calmly  of  these  things,  and  remember  you 
let  many  fall  into  the  cesspool  of  crime  to  make  a  loud 
noise  when  you  drag  them  out.  Beware  !  for  your  day 
of  reckoning  may  be  near  at  hand,  when  you  must  stand 
before  One  whom  you  cannot  deceive. 

Permit  me  to  give  you  my  mother's  ideas  on  the 
poor.  Twenty- five  years  ago,  there  was  a  sect  who 
defined  themselves  as  the  "  Plymouth  Brethren,"  or 
the  "  Saints,"  —  referred  to  before  in  this  chapter.  My 
sister  belonged  to  them,  and  was  on  a  visit  at  the  house 
of  a  wealthy  saint,  who  one  evening  related  to  her  a 
sorrowful  tale  of  a  young  and  lovely  woman  being  mal- 
treated by  a  brutal  husband.  My  sister  exclaimed, 
"  Poor  creature  !  "  The  saint  was  quite  indignant,  and 
replied,  "  I  consider  that  expression  an  epithet  of  con- 
tempt ;  and,  since  your  father  died,  I  have  heard  your 
mother  called  "  Poor  creature."  The  "  saints  "  parted 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  117 

and  my  sainted  sister,  returning  home,  re- 
peated the  whole  of  the  affair  to  my  mother.  Two 
days  after,  there  appeared  in  the  principal  newspaper  of 
Plymouth  the  following  lines  :  — 

TO  ONE  OF  THE  PLYMOUTH  "  SAINTS "  WHO  ALLEGED  THAT 
"POOR  CREATURE  "  WAS  AN  EPITHET  OF  CONTEMPT.  —  By 

Grace  Boyle,  late  De  la  Hooke. 

"  Poor  worm  of  dust,  poor  clod  of  meanest  earth,  — 
Poor  from  thy  womanhood,  thy  childhood,  birth  ; 
Say,  hadst  thou  beauty,  youth,  or  fame  in  store, 
Or  wealth,  or  rank,  yet  still  thou  wouldst  be  poor. 
Much  faith,  much  works,  much  reasoning  or  lore, 
Yet  sinful,  sunken,  senseless,  blind,  and  poor. 
Poor,  poor  mortality,  a  worldling  I, 
Whom  '  SAINTS  '  would  scoff  at,  and  each  fault  decry ; 
And  yet  Christ  saith,  '  I  blessings  have  on  high.' 
For  the  humble  spirit,  blessings  are  in  store ; 
And  I  confess  me  I  am  very  poor,  — 
Poor  in  that  faith  by  which  the  soul  is  driven 
From  earth's  strongholds,  and  half  embraces  heaven ; 
Poor  in  world's  goods,  in  basket,  and  in  store : 
I  do  confess  me,  I  am  very  poor. 

"  When  the  Lord's  chastening  hand  is  laid  on  those 
Who  meekly  bear,  and  tremble  to  oppose, 
The  GOOD  SAMARITAN  will  wash  the  sore 
With  OIL  and  WINE,  and  say,  *  Because  she's  poor.' 
Do  words  like  these  imply  contempt  in  store  ? 
Was  Matthew,  Mark,  was  not  our  Saviour,  poor  ? 
Go,  woman,  weep,  thy  pride  and  passion  o'er ; 
Whilst  I  can  smile  at '  Blessed  are  the  Poor.' " 


118      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,   AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

NOTE.  —  I  happened  to  be  alone  in  conversation  with  the 
young  woman  who  affirmed  that  only  thin  people  could  be 
intellectual ;  and  hearing  her  pronounce  "  Edinburgh  "  as  it  was 
spelt,  and  knowing  her  sixteen  years  ago,  when  she  was  seven 
years  old,  out  of  kindness  I  informed  her  the  proper  pronuncia- 
tion was  "  Edinbro  "  (having  lived  in  that  city  ten  years).  Instead 
of  thanking  me,  she  took  not  the  slightest  notice,  but  asked  me 
if  I  had  ever  been  to  Paris.  And  these  words  have  remained  a 
byword  between  myself  and  friends  ever  since.  When  we  meet, 
we  salute  each  other  by  asking  this  overpowering  question,  "  Have 
you  been  to  Paris  ?  "  Her  mother  was  born  and  reared  in  the 
humblest  sphere  of  life  (the  husband  informed  me  she  worked 
out  in  her  girlhood  for  seventy-five  cents  per  week),  yet  often 
speaks  of  her  boarding-school  days,  boasted  about  her  daughter's 
independence  in  pronouncing  this  word  in  her  own  style  !  Let  us 
presume  it  was  the  Parisian  style.  I  believe  that  woman  would 
have  undergone  such  torture  that  it  would  have  caused  her  death, 
had  it  so  happened  that  her  two  daughters  could  not  have  "  BEEN 
to  PARIS."  I  was  sorry  to  learn,  that,  on  one  of  their  visits  to 
that  country  (they  have  been  three  times  there),  they  had  an  in- 
vitation from  a  woman  whom  the  mother  previously  informed  me 
was  living  in  open  adultery,  and  had  two  children  by  her  paramour; 
and  the  WIFE  of  the  man  languishing  in  misery  alone  !  and  yet 
this  mother  accepted  her  invitation  during  her  stay  in  France 
with  her  two  young  women  daughters,  — one  born  in  July,  1847, 
and  the  other,  July,  1850  !  And,  when  the  unfortunate  person  and 
children  come  to  New  York,  she  makes  their. house  her  HOME! 
Surely  there  is  retribution  for  such  foul  deeds  as  these.  I  have 
remarked  that  the  vulgar  frequently  mistake  insolence  for  inde- 
pendence; but  the  meaning  of  these  two  words  is  as  distinct  as 
noble  DETERMINATION  and  dogged  obstinacy. 

Reader,  did  it  ever  occur  to  you,  that,  when  a  certain  class  of 
persons  get  into  comparatively  affluent  circumstances  (not  by  their 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID    QUESTIONS.  119 

own  exertions,  but  some  strange  freak  of  fortune),  the  first  thing 
they  spring  at  is  a  piano  and  teacher,  then  a  half-dozen  French 
books,  and  a  real  French  madame,  neglecting  more  useful  branch- 
es of  education  ?  I  once  knew  a  woman  who  had  washed  all  her 
life  for  a  living ;  and  one  of  her  young  daughters  had  been  with  a 
a  family  to  France  as  a  nurse-girl,  and  spoke  bad  French  very 
fluently.  When  my  children  and  I  would  go  there,  the  old  woman 
would  make  this  girl  repeat  every  thing  she  had  to  say  in  French, 
and  watch  the  effect  this  display  of  learning  had  on  our  countenan- 
ces. The  only  result  was  making  us  actually  ROAR  with  laughter. 
About  two  years  ago,  I  had  a  dressmaker  from  "The  Working- 
Woman's  Union"  New  York ;  and,  speaking  of  her  relations,  she 
said, "  O  inarm !  you  should  see  my  oldest  sister's  daughter.  She  is 
a  perfect  lady  ;  and  everybody  says  she'll  marry  some  grand  man" 
—  "Indeed!"  I  replied.  "Yes,  marm,  she  speaks  French  elegant; 
and,  when  she's  speaking,  she  throws  her  hands  about  like  an 
actress."  This  was  too  much  for  my  risible  faculties.  I  enjoyed 
her  description  of  a  REAL  LADY  vastly.  In  an  old  paper  of  Frank- 
lin's, dated  1723,  there  is  a  capital  but  short  postscript,  saying, 
"  Gentle  readers,  we  design  never  to  let  a  paper  pass  without 
a  Latin  motto,  if  we  can  possibly  pick  one  up,  which  carries  a 
charm  in  it  to  the  vulgar  ;  and  the  learned  admire  the  pleasure  of 
construing.  We  should  have  obliged  the  world  with  a  Greek  scrap 
or  two ;  but  the  printer  has  no  types :  and  therefore  we  entreat  the 
candid  reader  not  to  impute  the  defect  to  our  ignorance ;  for  our 
*  Doctor '  can  say  all  Greek  letters  by  heart." 

NOTE.  —  Young  girls,  read  this  letter  of  advice  I  wrote  to  my 
daughter  Gordon  after  receiving  a  letter  from  her  informing  me  of 
her  happiness  with  her  husband.  He  had  not  graduated  when  they 
were  married;  and  I  knew  the  income  his  father  allowed  him, 
though  handsome  for  one  person,  would  be  very  limited  when  he 
took  a  wife.  After  writing  on  my  family-affairs,  I  concluded  my 


120      THE  INCREASE   OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

letter  thus  :  "I  hope  you  will  bear  in  mind  all  I  have  said  to  you 
regarding  the  marriage-state.  Remember,  you  tested  your  hus- 
band's love,  and  found  him  faithful ;  and  it  will  be  your  own  fault 
if  his  affection  does  not  continue.  When  he  comes  home  to  his 
meals,  make  a  point  of  having  every  thing  in  perfect  order,  with 
WELL-COOKED  FOOD  ;  and,  however  inexpensive  your  dress  may 
be,  let  it  be  neat,  but  neither  gay  nor  soiled.  A  white  muslin  dress 
always  looks  well  on  any  person,  especially  the  young,  or  a  bride. 
I  like  dresses  that  wash,  because,  when  they  are  '  made  up/  they 
look  fresh,  just  like  a  new  one  from  the»store.  I  pray  you  to  not 
let  this  mode  of  conduct  be  merely  a  beginning,  if  you  wish  happi- 
ness in  your  married  life  to  be  of  long  duration.  Remember,  this 
man  has  chosen  you,  a  poor  girl,  for  his  wife,  in  preference  to  a 
wealthy  one  whom  his  friends  wished  him  to  have  ;  proving  that 
it  was  you  he  wanted  to  marry,  and  not  your  ESTATES  or  your 
GOLD.  If  he  is  out  of  temper,  and  unreasonable  in  consequence, 
on  no  consideration  retort  at  the  time :  but,  when  he  is  calm  and 
agreeable,  then  point  out  when,  and  where,  he  was  in  error ;  and,  of 
his  own  accord,  he  will  ask  your  forgiveness,  and  be  more  careful 
in  future  not  to  offend  you.  Depend  on  it,  what  I  say  to  you  is 
correct,  and  for  your  good.  I  have  no  object  in  telling  you  these 
things  but  to  make  the  happiness  you  speak  about  continue  till 
'the  end  of  all  things.'  Do  not  forget  that  his  profession  is  one 
that  requires  closer  study  (I  think)  than  any  other:  therefore 
never  attempt  to  entertain  him  with  tales  about  your  neighbor's 
fine  dress  or  fine  airs,  or  your  servant's  stupidity.  Never  indulge 
in  gossipping ;  for  it  leads  to  slandering,  which  is  indicative  of  a 
frivolous  and  envious  mind ;  and  I  am  sorry  to  add  that  women  as 
a  body  are  too  prone  to  it.  True  men  of  every  grade  in  life  detest 
it.  Do  you  remember  my  telling  you  that  neither  my  mother  nor 
grandmother  ever  permitted  a  person  to  speak  disparagingly  of 
another  in  their  presence,  when  the  party  was  not  there  to  be  able 
to  vindicate  or  defend  themselves  ?  I  have  frequently  heard  my 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS.  121 

mother  say  to  myself  and  young  friends,  when  we  were  making  com- 
ments on  girls  we  knew,  '  If  you  have  exhausted  all  your  powers  of 
entertaining  each  other,  but  this  one,  —  "backbiting"  —  I  think  it 
is  time  to  separate.'  Another  important  thing  I  wish  to  impress  on 
your  mind.  Do  not  beg  or  tease  your  husband  for  a  SILK  dress,  or  a 
VELVET  mantle,  unless  you  are  QUITE  certain  he  CAN  really  afford 
to  buy  one  ;  for,  if  he  CANNOT,  just  think  of  the  agony  he  will  en- 
dure when  the  bill  is  presented,  and  he  without  the  money  to  settle 
it !  Only  consider  how  his  brain  will  burn,  and  how  his  valuable 
time  will  be  taken  up,  devising  some  way  to  pay  it ;  and  if  you 
really  love  your  husband,  on  reviewing  the  whole  matter,  how  you 
will  reproach  yourself  for  having  caused  all  this  tribulation  for  a 
fine  dress  I  You  have  youth  on  your  side,  and  look  well  in  any 
thing  that  is  neat  and  consistent.  Hoping  you  will  ask  God  to 
direct  you  in  all  things,  I  remain  your  affectionate  mother, 

"ANNA  B.  BOONE." 


After  my  daughter  (Mrs.  Dr.  Bevan)  became  a  mother,  I  re- 
ceived this  letter :  — 

"  MY  OWN"  DEAR  MOTHER,  —  How  can  I  ever  thank  you 
enough  for  all  you  have  done  for  me  !  How  much  more  I  am  able 
to  appreciate  your  instruction  now  that  I  am  a  wife  and  a  mother ! 
Many  things  that  I  thought  severe  in  you  to  expect  me  to  do  at 
that  time,  I  thank  you  a  thousand  times  for  NOW.  I  have  followed 
your  advice  as  closely  as  possible,  and  am  truly  happy.  We  have 
had  two  invitations  to  the  '  ball '  at  Guy's  Hospital :  all  the  Doc- 
tors and  their  wives  will  be  there.  The  hospital  is  to  be  hung 
with  scarlet  cloth.  Many  of  the  *  nobility '  are  invited.  My  boy 
is  a  beauty:  his  name  is  John  Acland  Batler  Bevan,  —  Batler 
after  the  '•Duke  of  Ormond,'  one  of  his  father's  ancestors ;  and 
Acland  after  mine.  So  he  may  be  proud  of  his  antecedents.  But 


122      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,   AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

what  I  shall  pray  for  most  is,  that  he  may  live  to  be  a  good  man.    I 
write  in  great  haste  as  my  baby  is  calling  for  me. 
"  I  remain,  my  own  dear  mother, 

"  Your  affectionate  daughter, 

"LoRA  GORDON  BEVAN. 

"  P.S.  —  John  will  send  you  a  few  lines  in  this  envelope.  He 
had  twenty-seven  patients  last  Wednesday.  O  mamma!  when  1 
think  of  all  you  have  undergone,  and  how  you  still  retain  your 
cheerfulness  and  youthful  appearance,  it  seems  miraculous.  The 
lines  I  wrote  on  « William  Tell '  I  will  send  you  as  soon  as  the 
paper  is  sent  to  me." 

I  publish  these  letters  to  show  my  young  readers,  that, 
the  higher  the  intellect  is  cultivated,  the  better  able  we 
all  are  to  fulfil  our  womanly  duties.  Such  letters  as  these 
are  very  dear  to  a  mother's  heart,  and  prove  that  she 
has  not  labored  in  vain. 

From  John  Alywin  Bevan  to  Mrs.  Boone. 

11  GUY'S  HOSPITAL,  1806. 

"  MY  DEAR  MOTHER-IN-LAW,  —  I  cannot  allow  Gordon  to 
send  her  letter  without  addressing  a  few  lines  to  you  to  say  how 
much  I  am  indebted  to  you  for  having  blessed  me  with  such  a  wife 
as  Gordon.  I  cannot  express  the  happiness  I  have  realized  since 
our  marriage.  She  possesses  (if  possible)  more  virtues  than  those 
that  have  already  so  distinguished  her  mother.  I  write  this  in  the 
hospital,  surrounded  by  business :  therefore  excuse  this  brief  letter, 
and  "  Believe  me  ever  your  affectionate  son-in-law, 

'•JOHN  ALYWIN  BEVAN." 

NOTE  ON  "  YOUNG  AMERICA." — Speaking  on  the  subject  of 
obedience  among  children  in  this  country,  —  I  rarely  find  it,  even 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  123 

in  highly  respectable  American  families.  And  I  am  most  decidedly 
in  favor  of  parents  being  the  "  head  "  of  the  household.  In  Eng- 
land, children  are  decidedly  kept  in  better  order.  I  have  had  more 
trouble  with  my  young  American  boys  than  all  my  other  children. 
Daniel  wishes  to  be  "  master,"  and  gives  his  ideas  rather  too  freely. 
So  does  young  Willie.  Daniel  has  marched  off  a  half  a  dozen  times, 
"  to  see  the  world,"  as  he  says  ;  but  I  am  bound  to  go  after  him  as 
long  as  the  law  gives  me  that  power :  and  he  will  thank  me  for 
it  in  after-years.  This  boy  has  supported  himself,  ever  since  he 
was  seven  years  old,  by  delivering  little  temperance-pieces,  and, 
later,  regular  lectures  (some  will  be  found  at  the  end  of  this  book). 
And  on  the  1st  of  January,  1867,  at  Tremont  Temple,  he  deliv- 
ered an  address  (written  by  me)  on  the  Emancipation  Procla- 
mation. The  next  morning,  "  The  Boston  Journal "  spoke  in  the 
highest  terms  of  this  boy's  powers,  and  copied  a  small  portion  of 
the  lecture,  and  ended  by  observing  that  one  of  the  speakers  in- 
stantly rose,  and  gave  out  the  words,  "  God  moves  in  a  mysterious 
way  his  wonders  to  perform."  "  The  Boston  Post,"  after  making 
comments  on  many  of  the  gentlemen  present,  said,  "  The  next 
speaker  introduced  was  Daniel  Boone,  the  youthful  orator.  Young 
Boone,  only  twelve  years  of  age,  made  a  fine  appearance  on  the 
platform,  and  spoke  with  all  the  dignity  and  gracefulness  that  an 
accomplished  elocutionist  can  command  when  in  the  presence  of 
a  large  audience.  The  remarks  of  this  child-orator  —  for  such  in- 
deed he  is  —  were  received  with  frequent  rounds  of  applause,  as  the 
well-rounded  periods,  accompanied  with  most  graceful  gestures,  fell 
from  his  lips.  This  address  was  decidedly  the  great  feature  of  the 
afternoon  exercises."  Of  course,  such  nattering  remarks  from  such 
papers  are  apt  to  make  a  boy  vain.  It  is  not  the  case  with  him.  He 
does  not  give  himself  "  airs ;  "  never  attempts  to  say  or  infer  that 
he  is  at  all  superior  to  any  AMERICAN  BOY.  He  hates  to  "  show 
off"  what  he  can  do.  I  do  not  object  to  this.  But  he  speaks  of  all 
the  English  with  a  sort  of  contempt,  which  makes  him  appear  un- 


124      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

just,  and  is  most  decidedly  little.  This  prominent  feeling  in  Young 
America,  I  think,  is  caused  by  some  writers  who  have  travelled, 
and  hate  the  English,  and  are  continually  harping  upon  the  Amer- 
ican boys'  superiority. 

.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Bellows  writes  as  follows  to  "  The  Liberal  Chris- 
tian," respecting  some  of  the  experiences  of  his  recent  voyage  up 
the  Nile :  "  I  am  delighted  with  our  English  boys  (there  are  none 
over  twenty-five),  and  think  myself  most  fortunate  in  the  opportu- 
nity of  studying  young  men  just  out  of  college  from  the  tight  little 
island.  I  cannot  but  compare  them  (not  unfavorably,  or  the  reverse) 
with  the  three  American  young  men.  The  differences  are  very 
marked.  All  the  young  men,  both  American  and  English,  are,  it 
BO  happens,  college-bred,  and  all,  on  both  sides,  earnest  and  fine 
fellows.  They  are  all,  too,  nearly  of  one  age.  The  English  are 
gentler,  more  considerate  of  the  feelings  of  those  about  them,  softer, 
and  more  restrained.  They  are  modest,  and  less  accustomed  to  the 
society  of  women,  very  sensitive,  and  a  little  awkward.  They  are 
deferential  to  the  elders  of  the  party,  and  never  put  themselves  on 
the  common  footing  of  human  beings,  without  much  regard  to  age 
or  sex.  They  are  up  in  the  classics,  in  history,  and  in  antiquities, 
but  not  up  in  the  physical  sciences,  nor  even  in  their  own  litera- 
ture. They  know  a  good^deal  about  English  politics,  but  not  much 
about  foreign  or  American  affairs.  They  chaff  each  other,  talk  a 
deal  of  slang,  are  always  good  natured,  and  have  next  to  no  self- 
assertion  or  national  sensitiveness.  They  are  very  liberal  in  their 
religious  notions,  especially  the  Cambridge  man.  They  are  not 
good-looking,  considered  as  physical  specimens,  and,  with  one  ex- 
ception, have  not  a  spark  of  grace  or  fascination  in  appearance. 
The  Americans  are  men  better  versed  in  general  knowledge  and  in 
acquaintance  with  the  world.  They  are  more  skilled  in  the  sci- 
ences and  in  general  literature,  know  more  about  English  authors, 
than  the  Englishmen.  They  know  much  less  of  Latin  and  Greek 
and  antiquities.  They  talk  less,  but  are  more  self-possessed,  and 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  125 

seem  much  older  for  their  years.  They  are  comparatively  bluff, 
manly  fellows ;  handsome  as  men,  and  not  very  sensitive  to  the 
charms  of  the  young  ladies,  whom  they  treat  with  an  easy  respect 
which  is  not  very  flattering.  They  look  more  like  men  who  had  a 
distinct  and  serious  business  in  life,  over  which  they  were  brooding 
too  deeply  to  have  much  taste  for  trifles.  They  have  very  little  of 
the  solicitude  to  please,  and  very  little  of  the  gentleness,  of  the 
English  youth.  They  are  less  engaging  from  a  domestic  point  of 
view,  but  more  promising.  In  short,  one  represents  a  country  where 
all  hopes  are  bounded^  and  where  everybody  must  move  step  by 
step,  and  with  due  regard  to  ten  thousand  competitors ;  the  others, 
a  country  where  everybody  has  scope,*  where  men  may  have  great 

*  And  is  there  so  little  hope  for  the  English,  doctor  ?  In  Philadelphia,  some 
months  ago,  the  college-bred  young  men  did  not  approve  of  young  ladies  being 
"  STUDENTS  ;  "  and  they  insulted  them  so  grossly,  that  the  police  actually  had 
to  interfere.  I  read  this  statement  myself.  And  a  short  time  subsequently,  at 
the  Bellevue  Hospital,  New  York,  the  same  kind  of  scenes  took  place;  and 
Warden  Brennan  was  ordered  to  call  in  the  "/jrce,"  if  the  outrages  were  again 
repeated.  And,  more  recently  still,  I  read  an  article  headed,  "  Disgraceful 
Scenes  at  Tale  CMeje."  It  ran  thus :  "  Yale  students  have  AGAIN  been  guilty 
of  conduct  calculated  to  bring  that  institution  into  disgrace.  Last  Saturday 
night. '  The  Palladium  '  says,  a  fow  of  the  students  engaged  in  a  series  of  wan- 
ton actions,  prominent  among  which  were  the  firing  of  a  college  out-building, 
breaking  into  and  defacing  the  chapel,  abstracting  the  cushions  and  Bible,  carry- 
ing off  one  of  the  iron  scats  on  the  green."  Doctor,  I  am  in  favor  of  the  strictest 
discipline ;  and,  when  I  cannoi  manage  my  boys,  I  shall  put  them  where  they 
will  be  well  kept  down.  I  knew  a  clergyman  in  England;  and  he  said  boys  ought 
to  be  threshed  once  a  month,  whether  they  were  obstreperous  or  not.  And  Ward 
Beecher  says,  if  a  child  is  whipped,  let  it  be  done  in  EARNEST,  or  not  at  all,  — 
words  tantamount.  I  say  ditto. 

I  read,  a  few  days  since,  in  another  paper,  the  following  remarks :  — 
"  Not  only  wealth,  but  fame,  social  position,  political  power,  are  within 
easy  reach  of  every  class.  Patrick  Henry,  Daniel  Webster,  Henry  Clay,  and 
Abraham  Lincoln,  were  all  born  of  poor  but  honest  parents."  Does  the  writer  of 
these  words  know  that  Milton  was  a  poor  man,  born  in  Bread  Lane,  London  1 
that  Cobden  was  once  only  a  commercial  traveller  ?  that  Sir  Robert  Peel  was  only 
a  poor  weaver,  and  after,  premier  of  England  ?  Charles  Dickens  was  born  in 


125      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

hopes,  and  where  their  early  motions  are  accommodated  to  a  long 
and  a  lofty  goal.  I  must  say,  I  see  nothing  in  the  most  candid  com- 
parison of  these  English  and  American  young  men  to  make  me 
feel  ashamed  of  being  an  American." 

The  doctor  says,  "  The  English  are  gentler,  more  considerate  of 
the  feelings  of  those  about  them,  softer,  and  more  restrained."  He 
repeats  this  as  if  it  were  rather  a  fault  (I  think  this  style  charming, 
and  to  be  admired).  He  continues,  "  They  are  modest,  and  less 
accustomed  to  the  society  of  women,  very  sensitive,  and  a  little 
awkward.  They  are  deferential  to  the  elders  of  the  party,  and 
never  put  themselves  oa  the  common  footing  of  human  beings, 
without  much  regard  to  AGE  or  SEX."  I  must  say,  it  is  very  beau- 
tiful to  see  modesty  in  either  sex,  —  that  is,  to  MY  taste.  He  says 
they  are  not  good  looking,  considered  as  physical  specimens,  and, 
with  ONE  exception,  have  not  a  spark  of  grace  or  fascination  in 
appearance  (remember,  he  judges  from  three  or  four  young  men). 
Now,  just  suppose  that  an  English  person  had  made  a  similar  remark 
about  the  Americans.  Why,  we  English  would  be  scouted  in  the 
most  horrible  manner.  I  pray  you,  give  us  credit  for  one  thing,  — - 
never  making  remarks  on  personal  appearance  until  really  called  for ; 

humble  life.  George  Stevenson  could  not  read  till  he  was  twenty-two  years  old; 
and  to  what  height  did  HE  rise !  And  where  is  his  son  now  ?  Samuel  Drew 
waa  a  poor  shoemaker;  and,  when  he  went  dlnnerless,  he  would  tie  his  apron- 
string  tighter,  pounding  away  at  the  sole  of  a  boot,  occasionally  getting  up  to 
take  down  a  pair  of  old  BELLOWS  for  a  DESK,  and  writing  his  exquisite  essay  on 
the  other  soul.  This  work  so  distinguished  him,  that  his  family  are  now  living  in 
splendor  in  St.  Anstel,  Cornwall.  And  at  one  time  he  lived  in  one  room  with  six 
children.  Cobbett  was  a  poor  soldier.  Poor  Bunyan  in  a  prison  wrote  "  The  Pil- 
grinrs  Progress," — a  work  that  will  be  handed  down  to  posterity.  Our  "  mighty 
Bard  "  was  only  born  in  the  middle  class  of  society.  In  fact,  I  could  fill  volumes 
with  such  illustrations.  And  as  to  our  wealthy  men,  thousands  have  risen  from 
obscurity  —  yes,  charity-boys,  workhouse-boys  —  to  opulence.  But  we  rarely 
hear  of  these  people,  simply  because  the  English  do  not  lay  such  stress  on  men 
for  their  wealth,  unless  worth  is  combined :  then  we  signalize  them  as  being 
great;  and  they  make  themselves  "  men  of  mark." 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  127 

and  likewise  honor  us  for  taking  care  of  the  LITTLE  beauty  we  do 
possess.  I  know  two  young  women,  of  twenty-one  and  twenty-three, 
that  are  actually  plain-looking  persons ;  and  a  woman  told  me,  that, 
when  they  were  " young"  they  were  " real  sweet."  "  Young  !  "  I 
exclaimed,  "  why,  they  are  girls  now ! "  —  "  Oh !  "  said  the  lady ; 
"  I  mean  when  they  were  fifteen  or  sixteen."  Now,  just  think  of 
such  a  speech ! 

Reader,  I  have  a  paper  on  medical  subjects  ;  *  and,  in  less  space 
than  a  quarter  of  a  yard,  there  are  three  separate  sentences  on  the 
superior  beauty  of  the  American  women  to  the  English.  Not  one 
of  these  travellers  seem  to  be  cognizant  of  the  fact  that  the  Lan- 
cashire women  are  very  beautiful ;  that  they  are  always  called  the 
"  Lancashire  witches,"  —  so  bewitchingly  lovely  are  they ;  and  in 
"  Worcester,"  the  women  are  called  the  three  P's, —  "poor,  proud, 
and  pretty ;  and  Plymouth  is  noted  for  her  beautiful  women.  In 
Plymouth,  a  female  Quaker  was  so  exceedingly  beautiful,  that  the 
street  was  actually  lined  with  people  to  look  at  her;  and  in  Weru- 
bery,  near  Plymouth,  a  farmer's  daughter,  Miss  Dudney,  was  so 
lovely,  the  Duke  of  Clarence  (afterwards  King  William)  jumped  off 
his  horse,  and  presented  her  with  a  diamond-ring,  and  at  the  same 
time  declared  that  a  second  "  Fair  Rosamond  "  had  come  to  life.  In 
London,  a  confectioner's  daughter  was  so  transcendently  beautiful, 
that,  when  she  appeared  in  the  shop,  the  police  had  to  be  on  hand. 
And  some  monster  threw  a  stone,  and  injured  her.  The  father  shut 
her  up ;  and  she  pined  and  died.  This  circumstance  happened 
when  my  mother  was  a  girl. 

And  as  to  our  intellectual  power,  as  a  body,  I  shall  say  nothing 
about;  for  all  my  educated  readers  are  aware  how  highly  this  "  Gem" 
predominates  in  the  Old  World.  I  could  write  volumes  about  our 
beautiful  and  great  women ;  but  these  things  speak  for  themselves 

*  It  was  Dr.  Holland,  who  writes  under  the  name  of  "Timothy  Titcomb," 
writing  to  The  Springfield  Republican. 


128      THE  INCREASE   OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

louder  than  book  or  words.  One  thing  I  will  say  to  both  the  young 
and  the  old,  —  there  is  always  hope,  when  a  boy  is  temperate  and 
honest  in  every  thing  (for  his  future).  These  are  two  great  features 
in  the  making  of  a  man  or  woman,  and  something  that  parents  ought 
to  inculcate  in  their  children  from  their  earliest  days,  —  something 
that  is  more  to  be  looked  to  than  people  generally  imagine.  Of 
course,  these  traits  arc  not  every  thing ;  but  they  are  two  great 
things.  I  have  been  called  severe  ;  but  I  thank  God  I  was  deter- 
mined enough  to  bear  the  insults  of  ignorant  people  ;  and  I  have 
reaped  the  benefits  of  my  severity  (I  mean  morally).  I  know  a 
woman  now  who  is  a  respectable  American  ;  and  she  had  to  put  her 
child  of  twelve  years  away  for  unruly  conduct.  Now  she  wishes 
him  home ;  and  the  authorities  won't  let  her  have  him.  This  woman 
informed  me  that  she  had  no  more  control  over  this  boy  than  if  he 
was  not  her  own ;  and  there  are  hundreds  of  such  cases  :  I  was 
told  so  by  a  gentleman  of  distinction  at  the  State  House  lately.  The 
difference  is,  I  am  bound  to  be  master  over  my  children.  Once, 
when  Daniel  ran  off,  I  started  from  New  York  to  Vermont,  with 
only  sixty-two  cents,  and  arrived  back  in  New  York  with  two  cents. 
Women,  make  your  children  TEMPERANCE  children.  Neither  one 
of  my  sons  or  daughters  would  touch  a  jelly  that  had  a  drop  of 
wine  in  it.  Mrs.  Vanderbilt,  jr.,  recently  was  teaching  her  children 
to  mend  stockings.  Some  lady  reproved  her  for  doing  so,  —  "a  lady 
in  her  rank,"  she  said.  Mrs.  Vanderbilt  replied,  and  very  rightly, 
that  she  thought  a  mother  ought  to  teach  her  children  every  tltincj,  as 
it  was  impossible  to  know  how  vicissitude  some  day  might  require 
them  to  do  many  things  that  they  dream  not  of  when  children. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  129 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Is  Longer  still.  —  Gives  Further  Evidence  of  the  Great  Attention  that  is 
paid  to  the  Outer  Man,  instead  of  the  Inner  Man,  and  the  Evil  Re- 
sults therefrom ;  with  Several  Episodes  appertaining  to  this  Subject. 
—  The  Conclusion. 

A  WOMAN  in  Boston  said  to  me  five  years  ago, 
"  Mrs.  Boone,  a  lady  wondered  that  I  took  you  to 
board  with  that  old  cloak  on."  Reader,  just  think  of  such 
a  speech  !  And  yet  a  gentleman  of  high  moral  character, 
and  of  excellent  standing  in  society,  walked  many  times 
through  Washington  Street  with  me  in  the  identical 

o  o 

cloak.  I  heard  he  was  married  a  37ear  ago :  and  I  feel 
quite  certain  that  he  has  chosen  his  wife  for  her  superior 
mind,  and  not  for  the  texture  of  her  cloak  ;  for  her  high 
tone  of  principle,  and  not  for  the  weight  of  her  chain, — 
a  happy  thing  if  there  were  more  such  marriages. 

My  husband  used  to  relate  an  anecdote  of  a  young 
gentleman  possessing  both  education  and  talent,  but 
poor.  Hearing  that  a  proud  and  wealthy  statesman  had 
a  secretaryship  at  his  disposal,  he  determined  to  try  his 
fortune.  He  knew  it  was  impossible  to  obtain  an  inter- 
view in  his  seedy  clothes,  unless  the  footman  willed  it. 


130      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

The  flunkey  was  insolent ;  but,  on  finding  a  golden 
guinea  thrust  into  his  hand  (the  last  the  poor  fellow 
had),  he  instantly  conducted  him  into  the  presence  of 
his  master,  whose  countenance  betokened  amazement 
at  such  presumption.  The  servant  whispered,  u  Your 
honor,  he  would  come  in."  The  haughty  man  turned 
round  to  his  indigent  visitor,  and  inquired  his  business. 
After  a  few  moments'  conversation,  the  statesman  was 
spell-bound  with  the  youth's  elegant  address,  his  earnest, 
manly,  and  straightforward  manner  of  asking  for  the 
vacancy,  and  his  evident  capability  of  being  able  to  fill 
it,  that  he  granted  his  request.  And,  on  leaving,  the 
great  man  opened  the  door  himself,  instead  of  ringing 
for  the  footman ;  at  the  same  time  remarking,  "  I  hope 
my  servant  was  not  impertinent  to  you  :  I  fear  he  was." 
— "  Not  at  all,"  replied  the  young  man.  "He  was 
very  polite  to  me ;  but  he  was  rather  insolent  to  my 
clothes."  Some  time  after,  he  called,  well  dressed,  and 
without  a  guinea.  He  was  immediately  admitted  to  the 
presence  of  his  patron,  who  again  hoped  that  his  man 
had  been  more  polite.  "  No,  sir,"  replied  the  secretary: 
"  he  behaved  just  the  same  to  me;  but  he  was  very  obse- 
quious to  my  CLOTHES." 

I  copied  from  a  paper  some  time  ago  the  following 
little  episode :  "  A  Long-Branch  correspondent  of  a 
Trenton  paper  gives  an  account  of  a  well-merited  re- 
buke administered  to  a  party  of  pretentious  fashionables 
at  that  place.  The  Hon.  Gov.  Newell  and  his  wife  ar- 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTION'S.  131 

rived  at  the  '  Mansion  House '  just  at  the  dinner-hour, 
and  entered  the  din'mor-hall  before  Mrs.  Newell  changed 

O  O 

her  attire.  The  party  alluded  to,  immediately,  not  know- 
ing her,  made  audible  remarks  on  her  appearance,  and 
spoke  indignantly  because  the  waiters,  to  whom  Gov. 
Newell  was  known,  waited  on  him  first.  Various  in- 
sulting allusions  were  made  in  the  table  conversation. 
In  the  evening,  Mrs.  Newell  appeared  in  the  parlor  in 
full  dress.  She  was  saluted  by  a  gentleman  who  hap- 
pened to  be  a  friend  of  the  ladies  in  the  fashionable 
party,  and  who  subsequently,  on  their  inquiry,  informed 
them  who  Mrs.  Newell  was.  They  immediately  sent  the 
most  abject  apologies,  which  she  refused  to  receive, — 
not  on  account  of  personal  resentment,  but  because  their 
conduct  exhibited  them  as  persons  not  fitted  to  associate 
with  genuine  ladies  ;  and  she  would  riot  recognize  them 
as  such."  Bravo,  Mrs.  Newell !  if  every  lady  acted  in 
the  like  manner,  this  species  of  the  human  animal 
would  soon  be  annihilated,  and  dress  would  have  its 
downfall.  Some  time  ago,  my  son-in-law  Burr  sent  me 
ten  pounds,  which  I  received  in  Wall  Street.  I  was 
dressed  in  black  silk,  with  a  white  bonnet ;  and  I  re- 
member I  had  on  new  kid  gloves.  The  clerk  paid  me 
instantly.  A  few  months  after,  Mr.  Hoar  sent  me  a 
check  for  a  small  sum  due  to  my  mother  from  the  Gov- 
ernment, paid  up  to  the  time  of  her  death.  As  the 
sky  was  cloudy,  I  put  on  appropriate  clothes,  fearing  it 
might  rain;  however,  it  cleared  off,  and  my  apparel 


132     THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,   AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

looked  rather  shabby.  I  saw  the  two  clerks  whispering 
together ;  and  one  stepped  forward,  and  asked  me  for  a 
reference.  I  replied,  "  Young  man,  I  am  Mrs.  Anna 
B.  Boone,  the  same  woman  that  you  paid  in  this  office 
a  short  time  ago ;  but  I  was  handsomely  dressed  at  the 
time,  and  you  looked  at  my  CLOTHES  then  for  a  REFER- 
ENCE. This  is  the  main  cause  of  the  existence  of  so 
many  young  Ketchums  in  Wall  Street."  He  colored  to 
the  very  temples,  paid  me ;  and  I  left.  When  I  was 
stopping  at  a  hotel  in  Washington,  some  years  ago,  the 
landlady  showed  me  a  set  of  diamonds  that  her  husband 
had  purchased  a  few  days  previously,  costing  a  thousand 
dollars.  In  course  of  conversation,  I  inquired  if  she  was 
well  provided  for  in  case  of  his  death,  as  he  was  her 
senior  by  many  years.  "No:  she  would  have  noth- 
ing." And  the  new  furniture  that  they  were  supposed 
to  have  bought  was  not  half  paid  for.  The  clerk's  wife 
showed  me  a  ring  that  cost  her  husband  a  hundred  dol- 
lars, —  a  miserable  looking  young  woman  of  twenty-two, 
with  one  sickly  child,  and  a  nurse  to  attend  to  it.  She 
did  nothing  from  morning  till  night  but  read  novels,  and 
look  at  her  white  hands,  —  particularly  the  one  with  the 
ring  on  it. 

A  wealthy  lady  came  to  the  hotel  to  stay  a  few  days, 
and  she  wore  some  superb  diamonds.  At  the  dinner- 
table,  it  was  most  laughable  to  see  the  clerk's  wife 
stretching  her  long,  thin  neck  to  feast  her  eyes  on  the 
lady's  jewels.  The  sight  of  them  seemed  to  light  up  her 
languid  system. 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS.  133 

"  London  Public  Opinion "  copied  an  article  from 
another  paper,  which  stated  that  it  is  natural  for  women 
to  love  jewelry ;  and  that  they  ought  to  have  it.  If 
this  be  the  case,  it  is  not  at  all  indicative  of  intellect ; 
for,  the  greater  the  savage,  the  greater  the  love  of  this 
unwholesome  propensity.  And  unwholesome  it  decided- 
ly is ;  for  we  have  continual  proofs  (one  recently,  of  a 
most  glaring  nature)  that  it  degrades  the  women  of  the 
present  day ;  or  it  impoverishes  their  homes,  and  makes 
the  heart  of  many  worthy  men  ache  till  they  sicken  and 
weary  of  life.  Reader,  you  must  know  that  the  reason 
I  feel  a  sort  of  manly  sympathy  for  the  masculine 
gender  is,  I  have  had  to  act,  in  a  great  measure,  nearly 
the  whole  of  my  life,  a  man's  part  to  my  numerous 
family.  I  know  all  the  responsibilities.  I  know  what 
it  is  to  be  major-domo.  When  I  wore  velvet  and  honi- 
ton,  I  earned  it ;  when  I  stopped  at  the  principal  hotels, 
my  hard  earnings  paid  for  it ;  when  I  have  been  a  guest 
at  some  of  the  first  families  in  America,  it  was  my  intel- 
lect, my  self-respect,  my  deportment,  that  won  me  these 
attentions ;  and  my  only  jewels  were  my  children.  Con- 
sequently, I  was  compelled  to  feel  myself  the  head  of 
the  house ;  and  GOD  knows  how  I  YEARNED  for  it  to  be 
otherwise. 

I  have  great  respect  for  working-meu  of  every  class, 
from  the  news-vender  up  to  the  millionnaire,  who  daily 
toil  for  the  support  of  their  wives  and  children  ;  and  the 
wife  should  remember,  that,  generally  speaking,  every 


134      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,   AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

cent  is  earned  by  the  husband,  every  bill  is  presented  to 
him.  Who  pays  for  the  barrel  of  flour  ?  If  one  or  ten 
pairs  of  shoes  are  wanting,  his  labor  has  earned  the  means 
.  to  meet  the  demand  ;  and,  if  debts  are  incurred,  the  man 
goes  to  prison,  and  not  the  woman  !  When  women  meet 
with  such  men  as  these,  they  ought  to  make  home  as 
near  like  paradise  as  possible.  Frequently,  instead,  the 
husband  comes  home  to  a  disorderly  house,  and  a  badly- 
cooked  dinner.  There  is  nothing  makes  me  so  ill  tem- 
pered as  poorly-dressed  food,  particularly  after  working 
hard  to  pay  for  it ;  and  I  am  proud  that  I  know  how  to 
cook  an  excellent  dinner,  as  well  as  read  Shakspeare  ; 
and  taught  my  daughters  the  same  necessary  and 
womanly  accomplishment.  Every  woman  ought  to 
knosv  how  to  dress  a  good  dinner,  and  iron  a  shirt ;  for, 
if  ten  servants  are  at  our  command,  it  will  never  come 
amiss  to  know  how  to  direct  them.  Many  a  man  makes 
some  excuse  to  dine  out  to  get  a  decent  dinner;  and 
should  he  meet  a  friend,  and  stay  out  a  couple  of  hours 
later  than  usual,  he  is  defined  as  a  monster  and  a  brute. 
I  don't  blame  him  :  so  should  I. 

A  lady  fell  into  a  violent  passion  with  me  lately,  be- 
cause I  said  I  believed  that  .domestic  grievances  too  fre- 
quently originated  from  either  the  idleness,  incompetency, 
or  selfishness  of  the  wife ;  and  I  do  believe  it  from  my 
heart.  And  at  meal-times,  men  are  amused  by  columns 
of  slander.  She  said,  "  Why,  of  all  women  on  earth, 
you  ought  to  agree  with  our  rights  ;  YOU,  who  have  had 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  135 

to  nm  half  round  the  world  to  live  !  "  —  "  True,"  I  re- 
plied, "  I  do  agree  that  women  should  have  their  proper 
rights;  but,  when  they  want  men's  rights,  let  them 
share  their  responsibilities.  If  a  woman  aspires  to  be 
the  head  of  the  house,  let  5ier  meet  its  expenses.  I 
only  wish,"  I  continued,  "you  had  to  'run  round  the 
world,'  as  you  call  it,  and  then  you  would  perceive  why 
1  ignore  woman  going  out  of  the  path  cut  out  for  her  (by 
Nature)  to  walk  in.  I  imagine  you  would  soon  tire  of 
men's  rights  when  you  partake  of  the  work  into  the  #ar- 
galn" 

Two  winters  ago,  I  read  in  "  The  Sun  "  of  New 
York,  many  letters  from  working-men  to  the  editor  of 
that  paper.  The  majority  were  boasting  how  much  it 
cost  them  to  live,  and  were  terribly  down  upon  a  man 
who  signed  himself  "  Observer,"  because  his  wife  pro- 
vided food  for  him,  herself,  and  three  or  four  chil- 
dren, on  a  dollar  a  day,  and  had  saved  enough  to  buy 
him  an  overcoat.  Both  of  these  persons  were  laughed 
at  and  derided  with  many  insulting  epithets,  in  epistles 
from  working  men  and  women,  whose  boast  and  insolence 
they  evidently  mistook  for  genuine  wit.  I  am  very  sure 
"  Observer"  and  his  wife  would  have -gained  the  appro- 
bation of  Dr.  Franklin  in  regard  to  their  frugality, 
which  redounds  to  their  credit.  I  think  men  and 
women  who  live  within  their  income  can  afford  to  be 
laughed  at  these  fast  times. 

When  I  kept  school  in  Connecticut,  out  of  my  sixty 


136     THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

pupils,  I  remarked  three  that  I  felt  certain  would  rise 
above  the  station  they  were  born  in.  Their  minds  were 
evidently  above  mediocrity ;  they  were  attentive,  punc- 
tual, and  well  dressed  ;  called  mean  and  greedy  by  many 
of  my  other  pupils :  but  what  was  the  result  of  these 
excellent  qualities  and  habits?  Two  of  these  girls  are 
living  elegantly  in  New  York,  married ;  and  the  other 
owns  a  ten-roomed  house  in  Greenpoint,  with  some 
thousands  in  the  bank.  Her  eldest  daughter,  to  my 
knowledge,  is  receiving  her  education  at  the  "  Rutgers 
Institute,"  in  the  Fifth  Avenue,  and  learning  every  ac- 
complishment. 

If  "  Observer's  "  wife,  by  her  excellent  management, 
gets  a  greatcoat  out  of  the  overplus  of  her  small  income, 
surely  she  is  to  be  honored  for  it  far  more  than  if  she 
had  bought  a  dashing  pair  of  ear-rings  or  a  breast-pin  ; 
for  the  greatcoat  keeps  warmth  in  the  man  who  is  her 
provider  to  the  best  of  his  abilities,  her  protector,  the 
father  of  her  children,  and  the  man  whom,  it  is  to  be 
supposed  and  hoped,  she  loves,  and  has  chosen  for  life, 
for  better,  for  worse.  It  is  such  actions  and  sacrifices  as 
these  that  prove  the  genuine  love  that  should  exist  be- 
tween man  and  wife,  and  exhibit  a  purity  of  mind  that 
should  be  lauded,  by  casting  aside  temptations  that  too 
frequently  bring  desolation  and  poverty  on  loved  ones, 
and  too  frequently  ruin  the  happiness,  respect,  and 
honor  of  once  joyous  homes.  Every  day  such  disclosures 
are  made  manifest.  When  a  man  marries,  lie  pays  the 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID    QUESTIONS.  137 

woman  the  greatest  compliment  he  is  capable  of  offering 
her,  and  shows  her  that  he  wishes  and  believes  she  will 
make  him  a  sacred  and  happy  spot  in  this  world,  wherever 
his  destiny  may  call  him  to  pitch  his  tent,  —  because  a 
man  can  always  have  a  place  to  resort  to,  either  to  gratify 
his  intellectual  or  animal  desires,  without  marrying,  and 
without  comment.  I  do  not  tell  you  that  I  think  these 
things  right;  but  such  are  the  conventionalities  of  society. 
If  a  woman  marries  a  true  man,  it  is  her  own  fault  if  she 
does  not  retain  his  affections  when  he  sought  to  win  her 

O 

for  herself  only ;  but  if  she  will  give  herself,  body  and 
soul,  to  a  man  for  a  fine  home  and  fine  dress,  he  will 
soon  find  out  the  truth,  and  that  there  is  no  love.  Then, 
GOD  HELP  HER  !  for  bitterness  or  apathy  must  dwell 
in  her  bosom  forever.  And,  if  she  WILL  marry  a  pup- 
pet or  puppy  because  "  he  is  such  a  PRETTY  FELLOW," 
why,  let  her  take  the  consequence  ;  which  is,  that  he  will 
think  much  more  of  his  mustache  and  necktie  than  either 
of  her  or  his  children  ! 

Let  COMPETENT  women  be  better  paid  for  their  labor, 
and  then  there  will  be  an  end  to  marrying  for  a  home, 
or  rather  a  shelter ;  for  such  uncongenial  firesides  can- 
not be  called  by  that  loving,  tender,  hallowed  name, 
"  home,"  sweet  home  ! 

It  has  frequently  occurred  to  me  how  beautifully  the 
simple  song  of 

"  There's  Nae  Luck  about  the  House" 
exemplifies  the  love  of  a  true  wife  for  her  husband :  — 


138      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

"  And  are  ye  sure  the  news  is  true  ? 

And  are  ye  sure  he's  weel  ? 
Is  this  a  time  to  think  of  wark  ? 

Ye  jauds,  fling  by  your  wheel ! 
Is  this  a  time  to  think  of  wark, 

When  Collin's  at  the  door  ? 
Rax  me  my  clock :  I'll  to  the  qua, 

And  see  him  come  ashore. 

"  For  there's  nae  luck  about  the  house,  i 

There's  nae  luck  at  a* ; 
There's  little  pleasure  in  the  house, 
When  our  gudeman's  awa'. 

"  Rise  up,  and  make  a  clean  fireside ; 

Put  on  the  muckle  pot ; 
Gie  little  Kate  her  button  gown, 

And  Jock  his  Sunday  coat. 
And  make  their  shoon  as  black  as  slae, 

Their  hose  as  white  as  snaw : 
It's  aw  to  please  my  ain  gudeman, 

For  he's  been  lang  awa'. 


"  Sae  true  his  heart,  so  smooth  his  speech, 

His  breath  like  caller  air  ; 
His  very  FOOT  has  MUSIC  in't 

As  he  comes  up  the  STAIR  : 
And  will  I  see  his  face  again  ? 

And  will  I  hear  him  speak  ? 
I'm  downright  dizzy  wi'  the  thought ; 

In  troth,  I'm  like  to  greet." 

What  a  beautiful,  touching  sentiment,  that  "  his  very 
foot  has  music  in't  as  he  comes  up  the  stair  "  !    What  a 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  139 

thrilling  idea  of  love  these  few  words  contain !  It  is  not 
the  ringing  of  the  GOLD  he  is  bringing  home  that  sounds 
so  harmonious  to  her  ear,  but  his  FOOTSTEP  that  makes 
MUSIC  to  her  HEART  ;  for  every  step  brings  him  closer 
to  her  ARMS.  And  yet  they  have  lived  long  enough 
together  to  have  a  little  Jock  and  a  wee  Kate.  The 

o 

love  that  exists  between  mother  and  child  is  the  holiest 
of  love ;  but  the  genuine  love  of  man,  and  woman,  is, 
unquestionably,  the  most  wonderful,  the  most  mysterious, 
—  in  fact,  it  is  a  miracle  that  CANNOT  be  SOLVED.  How 
often  you  will  see  a  family  living  in  the  most  perfect  har- 
mony, and  fate  or  chance  (fate,  I  think)  sends  a  strange 
man  to  the  house,  and  he  falls  in  love,  perhaps,  with  the 
most  affectionate,  obedient,  and  modest  of  those  daugh- 
ters ;  and,  should  she  reciprocate  the  attachment,  why 
she  will  leave  all  her  early  associations,  ALL  the  tender 
words  and  caresses  of  her  PARENTS,  and  go  forth  with 
him  whithersoever  he  may  wish  to  lead  her.  So  far, 
I  believe  in  magnetism  and  spiritualism :  I  believe  that 
love  often  takes  a  strong  hold  at  first  sight.  But  I  do 
not  believe  in  spiritualism  to  the  extent  that  some  persons 
do;  for  I  know  of  a  woman  living  with  a  married  man, 
and  she  says  the  spirits  sent  him  to  her.  She  is  forty- 
nine,  and  she  has  a  child  two  years  old  ;  and  she  solemnly 
affirms  that  it  was  a  gift  from  the  spirits.  Now,  the  wo- 
man that  I  have  referred  to  is  a  poor,  uncultured  person  ; 
and  yet,  to  palliate  her  crime  of  living  in  open  adultery, 
she  blames  the  poor  spirits,  by  affecting,  that,  as  she  be- 


140     TIIE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

longs  to  this  pure  circle  of  oracles,  she  is  compelled  to 
obey  their  mandates.  Still,  I  wish  my  readers  to  under- 
stand that  I  firmly  believe  there  are  HUNDREDS  of  pure- 
minded  spiritualists  who  are  disgusted  at  such  proceed- 
ings, and  sorry  that  such  degraded  acts  are  carried  on 
under  the  name  of  u  SPIRITUALISM." 

There  have  been  recently  some  terrible  disclosures  in 
a  Boston  paper  about  the  meetings  at  Boylston-street 
Hall  ;  and  I  know  not  why,  but  I  understand  these 
anonymous  letters  have  been  imputed  to  me.  I  am 
happy  to  inform  every  person  who  may  read  this  book, 
that,  in  the  first  place,  I  never  wrote  an  article  YET  that 
I  was  ashamed  to  put  my  name  to.  In  the  second  place, 
my  time  is  better  employed  by  endeavoring  to  earn  an 
honorable  living  for  myself  and  four  children.  I  have 
not  read  these  letters  ;  but  I  am  sorry  to  say,  that,  from 
what  I  hear  of  them,  there  is  too  much  truth  in  what 
they  allege  ;  for  there  is  no  doubt  but  there  are  a  num- 
ber of  degraded  characters  belong  to  that  hall.  I  have 
heard  an  old  withered  wretch,  called  Bruce,  say  a  long 
prayer  (if  you  can  imagine  a  fiend  praying)  ;  and  then 
break  out  like  a  maniac,  slandering  every  person  who 
had  given  her  the  least  offence,  and  even  persons  whom 
in  reality  she  knew  nothing  about ;  and  she  says  she  is 
under  the  control  of  Jack  Wade,  a  gambler,  and  she  is 
not  accountable  for  what  she  utters.  Such  a  creature 
ought  to  be  sent  to  the  State  Prison.  But  the  most  ridic- 
ulous part  is,  that  these  people  all  slander  each  other  even 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS.  141 

worse  than  their  out-door  enemies  are  guilty  of.  This 
was  told  me  by  a  harmless  and  respectable  old  woman, 
whose  daughter  attends  this  Hall,  much  against  her  will. 
When  I  hear  and  read  accounts  of  educated  men  ob- 
jecting to  the  opening  of  THE  PUBLIC  Library  on  Sun- 
day for  the  benefit  of  the  hardworking  portion  of  society, 
as  being  immoral,  I  wonder  whether  these  gentlemen 
notice  the  advertisements  of  the  different  meetings  that 
are  held  on  SUNDAY  evenings,  by  persons  who  pretend 
to  be  spiritualists.  A  respectable  married  man  informed 
me,  that  the  majority  of  these  places  were  nothing  better 
than  houses  of  degradation.  Oh  !  I  implore  you  men 
who  can  do  aught  in  this  matter,  to  crush  down  this  Sun- 
day crime*  and  OPEN  WIDE  the  doors  of  the  Temple  of 
Wisdom,  and  let  those  who  have  toiled  for  six  long  days 
enter,  and  regale  their  manly  thoughts  by  reading  the 
gems  that  have  fallen  from  the  powerful  brain  of  great 
and  good  men,  whose  works  shine  brightly  to-day,  though 
many  of  their  forms  are  mingled  in  the  dust.  There  are 
thousands  of  workingmen  whose  minds  are  STARVING 
for  intellectual  knoivledge  ;  and  the  opening  of  the  Public 
Library  on  SUNDAY  would  be  hailed  by  them  with  a 
spontaneous  burst  of  joy ;  yes,  equal  to  the  joy  that  a 
shower  of  GOLD  coin  would  cause  to  a  Wall-street  BRO- 
KER. 

And  allow  me  to  add,  in  conclusion,  that,  as  long  as 
such  stress  is  laid  on  our  apparel,  CRIME  will  not  decrease. 

*  See  note  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 


142      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

You  may  build  grand  churches,  and  pay  learned  men 
to  preach  the  highest  and  purest  morals,  and  to  expound 
the  Word  of  the  Great  Jehovah;  you  may  call  to  your 
aid,  for  an  example,  the  life  of  Christ,  who  walked  with 
chanty,  holiness,  and  humility  upon  this  earth :  but 
there  will  be  no  diminution  in  crime  while  there  is  such 
deference  paid  to  the  outer  man  instead  of  the  moral 
man,  —  instead  of  the  inner,  Christian  man. 

These  things  remind  me  of  unthinking  people  imagin- 
ing that  a  black  coat  and  a  white  necktie  makes  a  man 
fit  to  go  into  the  pulpit  (God  knows  we  have  had  fearful 
revelations  lately  to  the  contrary),  or  that  a  man  who 
wears  a  dark-blue  coat,  with  a  certain  brass  button  indi- 
cating police,  must  be  respectable.  I  have  frequently  seen 
one  of  these  men  arresting  some  poor,  misguided  indi- 
vidual, with  a  countenance  that  denoted  him  the  greater 
villain  of  the  two,  and  who  seemed  to  gloat  with  a  sort 
of  catlike  joy,  over  his  captured  prey.  In  New  York,  I 
have  seen  these  moral  men,  when  on  duty,  look  up  the 
street  and  down  the  street,  and  then  snatch  a  glass  of 
Bourbon  out  of  a  saloon-man's  hand,  swallow  it  down, 
turn  round,  and  look  as  solemn  as  a  judge,  ready  to  ar- 
rest a  small  boy  for  the  monstrous  atrocity  of  "  playing 
ball  in  the  street."  I  lived  in  the  vicinity  of  Grand  Street 
after  the  Sunday  prohibitory  law  had  passed ;  and  I  had 
ocular  proof  that  there  was  more  rum  brought  into  that 
house  on  Sunday  than  all  the  other  six  days  of  the 
week,  because  the  working-man  had  his  Saturday-night's 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID   QUESTIONS.  143 

wages,  and  could  slip  a  bribe  into  the  hand  of  the  "  good 
man  "  dressed  in  blue.*  O  my  friends,  what  a  horrible 
thought,  that  a  velvet  mantle,  a  fur  cape,  or  even  a  brass 
button,  actually  sways  the  mind  of  rational  and  intelli- 
gent people  !  The  existence  of  these  facts  is  a  degrada- 
tion both  to  the  laws  of  Grod  and  man. 

I  hope  the  time  will  soon  arrive  when  a  woman  shall 
be  judged  by  her  principles,  and  not  by  the  quality  of 
her  cloak ;  by  her  intellect,  and  not  by  the  richness  of 
her  carpet ;  and  I  hope  the  time  is  fast  approaching  when 
a  woman  shall  be  judged  by  the  moral  life  she  leads,  and 
the  temptations  she  has  withstood,  and  not  by  the  weight 
of  the  chain  she  wears ;  and  I  earnestly  hope  the  time 
will  yet  arrive  when  both  men  and  women  who  jshow 

*  I  mean,  by  speaking  thus,  that,  unless  the  man  is  really  a  good  man  pre- 
viously, taking  the  position  of  a  policeman  does  not  make  him  what  every  man 
OUGHT  to  BE,  HOLDING  such  a  station,  —  a  CHRISTIAN  MAN.  But  I  think  the  Bos- 
tonians  have  chosen  two  excellent  headings  in  both  c/u'e/and  deputy.  Mr.  Savage 
is  a  man  of  gentle  and  gentlemanly  bearing,  and  has  already  shown  his  desire 
to  "  DECREASE  CRIME."  I  had  an  agreeable  conversation  with  him  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  was  much  pleased  with  his  views  and  ideas.  He  informed  me,  that,  on 
speaking  to  the  women  he  caused  to  be  arrested,  they  all  seemed  to  be  very  har- 
dened; but  when  he  asked  them  what  they  thought  their  poor,  dear  (perhaps 
dead)  mothers  would  feel,  if  it  was  possible  that  they  could  know  of  their  degra- 
dation, instantly  nearly  the  whole  of  them  shed  tears  copiously.  I  say  again,  it  is 
true  mothers  that  are  wanted  to-day  more  than  the  BALLOT.  I  have  had  busi- 
ness with  Deputy  Quin,  and  must  say,  that,  had  I  gone  to  him  in  an  elegant  car- 
riage, he  could  not  have  shown  me  more  attention,  or  despatched  my  business 
with  greater  promptness ;  and  doubtless  there  are  hundreds  like  these  two  gen- 
tlemen; but  there  are,  likewise,  many  now  in  the  "Force"  who  are  not  fit  to 
fill  this  trusty  office.  Mr.  Hale,  the  head  officer  in  the  State  Prison,  informed 
me  that  there  are  over  two  hundred  more  prisoners  in  there  now  than  during 
the  time  of  the  war. 


144      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE; 

the  heroism  and  determination  to  brave  the  trials  of  pov- 
erty in  its  most  frightful  reality,  shall  be  properly  esti- 
mated for  bearing  it,  shall  be  honored  and  respected 
for  braving  it,  and  not  insulted,  because  they  prefer 
reputable  poverty  to  gaining  luxury  by  riding  through 
the  subterraneous  passage  of  degradation!  And  I  hope 
the  time  will  speedily  be  here  when  women  who  have 
not  defied  God's  wise  ordinance,  but  have  cheerfully  ac- 
cepted their  destiny  by  giving  life  and  birth  to  the  off- 
spring that  he,  in  his  almighty  wisdom,  chooses  to  send 
them,  shall  not  be  compelled  to  live  under  the  same  roof 
with  courtesans,  or  have  the  street-door  shut  them  out  the 
moment  the  landlady  discovers  that  they  have  not  com- 
mitted "fashionable  murders  "  of"  the  HOLY  INNOCENTS." 
And  my  friends,  —  you  who  are  acquainted  with 
grief,  —  do  not  forget  the  faith  of  the  little  girl,  who,  it 
is  evident,  was  inspired  by  God  with  the  thought,  that,  in 
throwing  away  the  handful  of  shells  when  in  her  immi- 
nent danger,  she  would  reach  the  summit  of  the  rugged 
rock  she  was  climbing;  that  she  compared  these  toys, 
even  in  her  childish  mind,  to  the  vanities  of  this  world, 
and  that  she  felt  then  had  to  be  cast  aside  before  she 
could  enter  the  gate  of  salvation,  that  is  wide  open  to  ALL 
who  earnestly  desire  to  enter ;  where  sits  our  heavenly 
and  merciful  Father  on  his  throne  of  grace,  ready  to  re- 
ceive us.  And  what  a  solace  to  those  broken  in  spirit, 
—  to  those  who  are  weary  of  life's  stormy  waves,  and 
have  cast  themselves  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  — -  when 


WITH  A  FEW  SOLID    QUESTIONS.  145 

remembering  Christ's  divine  words,  "In  my  Father's 
house  are  many  mansions  "  !  So,  let  us  feel  that  there  is 
a  vacant  mansion  reserved  for  all  of  us  who  cast  aside 
the  baubles  of  this  world :  let  us  feel  that  there  are 
angels  waiting  at  the  great  GATE  of  LIFE,  with  the  lan- 
tern of  faith,  to  usher  us  into  the  presence  of  the  EVER- 
LASTING and  ETERNAL  GOD. 

NOTE     RELATIVE    TO    THE    PUBLIC    LlBRAEY    BEING    OPEN 

ON  SUNDAY.  —  Every  person  must  allow  that  both  men  and 
women  spending  their  Sunday  by  reading  wholesome  matter 
would  be  a  moral  way  of  passing  their  time:  with  regard  to 
whether  it  is  a  religious  one  or  not,  is  another  question.  This 
privilege  in  the  Public  Library  will  not  hinder  a  good  Christian 
from  going  to  his  church,  or  saying  his  prayers  before  he  en- 
ters. And,  to  those  who  never  go  to  church,  this  resort  may 
lead  to  something  good :  they  may  come  in  contact  with  a  book 
that  may  open  their  darkened  minds,  that  have  been  shut  up 
in  ignorance;  and  a  bright  light  may  gleam  in  upon  their  im- 
aginations, that  may  lead  them  to  higher  and  better  things.  If  the 
"  Public  Library  "  is  shut  up  on  Sunday  because  it  is  immoral  to 
read  any  thing  but  the  Bible  on  that  day,  then  why  do  the  laws 
of  the  land  allow  newspapers  to  be  sold  and  read  on  a  Sunday? 
I  wish  some  good  man  or  woman  would  answer  these  questions, 
for  they  puzzle  my  brain  terribly.  Religion  is  something  that  no 
man  ought  to  interfere  with  his  fellow-man  about.  Whether  a  man 
is  a  Catholic,  a  Baptist,  a  Unitarian,  a  Universalist,  or  a  Deist, 
is  generally  because  he  has  been  born  among  them,  or  baptized 
in  either  faith ;  and  what  is  born  in«  us  is  rather  difficult  to  eradi- 
cate. Each  .man  that  professes  a  certain  creed  believes  HE  is 
right;  and  yet  we  all  know  that  it  is  not  often  that  ignorant  men 
wrangle  about  religion,  but  men  of  letters.  The  most  learned 
10 


146      THE  INCREASE  OF  CRIME,  AND  ITS  CAUSE. 

men,  all  reading  from  the  SAME  HOLY  BIBLE,  actually  take  dif- 
ferent views  of  the  same  sentences  !  Surely  this  truth  should  con- 
vince us  that  we  ought  not  to  be  bigoted,  but  generous  one  to 
another,  on  a  subject  that  so  many  benevolent  men  do  not  accord 
with  each  other  about.  There  is  one  thing  that  every  believer  in 
the  Son  of  God  must  agree  with :  that  Christ's  teachings  were 
love,  charity,  and  harmony,  and  not  dogged  discord,  which  must  jar 
upon  the  ear  of  his  REAL  FOLLOWERS  as  the  playing  on  a  broken 
instrument  must  grate  upon  the  ear  of  an  accomplished  musician. 
Good  men  !  open  the  doors  of  the  Public  Library  on  the  Sabbath. 
You  will  insure  much  happiness  to  an  intelligent  community. 
Had  it  not  been  for  books,  my  life  would  have  been  a  bitter  lot. 
Reading  has  accomplished  much  towards  lessening  my  manifold 
and  severe  trials.  If  I  knew  I  should  never  wear  any  thing  but  a 
calico  dress  again,  and  live  in  an  attic  (where  the  sun  shines  in), 
with  enough  to  eat,  and  plenty  of  the  RIGHT  KIND  of  books,  I 
should  be  perfectly  contented  with  my  children  round  me.  So 
much  can  I  say  in  favor  of  reading. 


AN  APPEAL  TO  MOTHERS  ON  TASTE, 

AND 

IN  BEHALF   OF  "BAND   OF  HOPE"  INSTITUTIONS. 

WRITTEN  BIT  MRS.  ANNA  B.  BOONE, 

And  delivered  before  the  " Father- Matheiv  T.  A.  B.  Society,  No.  2,"  on  the 
27th  of  January,  1865,  corner  of  Twenty-Third  Street  and  Second 
Avenue,  and  all  the  Temperance  Societies  in  New  York,  twice  at  Tre- 
mont  Temple,  Boston,  April,  1867,  and  the  Pilgrims  Church,  Eighteenth 
Street,  New  York. 


LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN,  —  I  believe  you  are  aware 
that  the  subject  I  am  about  to  lay  before  you  this  even- 
ing is,  chiefly,  advocating  temperance  from  childhood ; 
advocating  "  Band  of  Hope "  institutions  throughout 
the  country.  But  allow  me  to  preface  this  address  by 
assuring  you  that  it  is  a  short  one ;  still  as  much  to  the 
point,  I  trust,  as  if  I  spoke  for  two  consecutive  hours. 
I  have  a  great  distaste  to  long  lectures  or  long  sermons, 
even  when  the  orator  is  fine,  and  the  subject  good  ;  that 
is,  if  the  speaker  is  long  enough  to  become  monotonous  : 
for  then  the  charm  vanishes,  and  we  weary  of  it ;  and, 
when  this  is  the  case,  the  intended  good  does  not  result 
therefrom.  Multum  in  parvo  is  my  motto. 

147 


148  ADDIiESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

Drunkenness  has  been  practised  for  hundreds,  yes, 
thousands,  of  years ;  and  has  been  scorned,  scoffed  at, 
and  derided  in  all  ages.  Even  when  total  abstainers 
were  not  in  existence,  men  with  immense  knowledge, 
men  with  brilliant  talents,  men  with  capacious  brains,  and 
teeming  with  genius,  have  been  expounding  the  evil  ef- 
fects of  this  deleterious  habit  for  years.  Hundreds  of 
laborers  have  worked  with  the  most  unremitting  zeal  in 
this  cause,  to  crush  and  root  out  this  disease  from  the 
human  family,  without  succeeding  in  their  undertakings. 
Philanthropic  men  in  the  last  generation  toiled  ;  men  of 
the  same  noble  stamp  in  this  generation,  are  now  toiling 
here  and  there,  showing  forth,  in  eloquent  language, 
scientific  reasons  and  causes  why  this  custom  is  injurious 
to  the  bodily  health  and  appearance  of  mankind ;  beget- 
ting red  noses,  bloated  cheeks,  bluish-white  parched 
lips  ;  showing  when  and  how  it  generates  and  engenders 
different  diseases  of  the  brain,  upsets  the  whole  nervous 
system  ;  how  it  corrodes  the  stomach,  creates  nausea, 
and  an  unnatural  appetite  for  unwholesome  food ;  show- 
ing how  respectable  workingmen's  houses  are  turned  into 
cheerless  hovels ;  how  the  children  are  neglected,  and 
allowed  to  grow  up  in  ignorance  and  idleness,  which  too 
often  leads  to  crime.  I  say  all  these  facts  have  been 
shown  forth  by  men  in  flowing  and  glowing  terms,  with 
truth  to  back  them  up,  to  tens  of  thousands  of  persons 
for  a  long  series  of  years,  and  yet  drunkenness  still  ex- 
ists, and  with  but  little  sign  of  diminution. 


ADDRESSES  ON   TEMPERANCE.  149 

New  gin-palaces  are  built  in  London  each  succeeding 
year;  every  grocery  that  opens  in  New  York  has  a 
portion  of  the  store  dedicated  to  the  sale  of  strong 
drinks ;  and  nearly  all  the  basements  are  turned  into  free- 
and-easy  groggeries. 

I  am  aware  that  there  are  thousands  of  teetotallers ; 
but  I  am  likewise  cognizant  of  the  fact  that  there  are 
hundreds  of  thousands  who  are  not.  Why  is  this,  if 
ours  is  the  right  method  to  lure  men  away  from  this  evil 
course  ?  Simply  because  we  have  begun  at  the  wrong 
end.  Reform  as  many  adult  drunkards  as  you  can  ;  but 
the  surest  way  to  have  a  sober  nation  is  to  train  up  the 
young  to  loathe  drink  from  their  earliest  days,  —  to  teach 
them  to  abhor  and  dread  the  sight  of  this  coiling  ser- 
pent. Impress  upon  their  minds,  that,  however  charming 
it  may  seem  at  first,  it  will  leave  an  indelible  mark  upon 
its  prey,  and  impregnate  their  happiness  with  its  deadly 
sting.  Warn  them  of  this  sting  as  you  would  of  a  roar- 
ing lion ;  tell  them  that  they  must  run  from  it  as  from 
the  embrace  of  the  black  bear,  who,  while  he  is  hugging 
them,  is  murdering  them. 

In  my  travels,  I  have  heard  hundreds  of  persons  of 
different  nations,  both  men  and  women,  exclaim, 
"  Would  to  God  I  had  never  tasted  this  filthy  drink  !  " 
Of  course,  they  knew,  thatt  if  they  had  never  tasted  it, 
they  would  not  then  have  been  poor,  besotted  drunkards. 
My  friends,  these  are  very  sad  and  appalling  sounds  to 
be  heard  from  men,  often  the  heads  of  families,  —  to  hear 


150  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

them  lifting  up  their  voices  bemoaning  and  bewailing 
that  they  had  acquired  this  vicious  habit.  I  say,  when 
we  hear  men  thus  earnestly  denouncing  drink,  yet  un- 
able to  relinquish  it,  are  these  facts  not  sufficient  evi- 
dences, that,  to  annihilate  this  custom  forever,  we  must 
establish  '"  Bands  of  Hope "  institutions,  and  begin 
with  the  rising  generation?  Certainly  there  is  no 
refuting  such  a  question.  I  feel  quite  certain  that 
London  will  eventually  gain  the  ascendancy  in  the 
temperance-movement  over  New  York,  although  it  is 
more  than  twenty  times  larger,  and  doubtless  more 
drinking  going  on  at  the  present  moment.  But  we 
have  an  immense  foundation-stone  laid  there  in  the 
shape  of  thousands  of  children,  some  who  have  grown 
up  to  young  men  and  maidens,  who  had,  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  their  parents,  vowed  never  to  touch  any  kind  of 
alcoholic  liquors ;  so  that  they  do  not  require  to  be  re- 
formed when  they  reach  glorious  man  and  woman  hood. 
They  are  spotless ;  they  are  free  from  the  taint  of  this 
ruinous  drug,  which  is  eating  up  the  vitals  of  all  nations : 
and  poverty,  ignorance,  and  strife  reign,  instead  of  wis- 
dom, peace,  and  plenty.  It  is  not  to  be  denied,  in  fact, 
there  is  no  question  about  it,  but  that  taste  in  all,  most 
all,  instances,  can  be  acquired,  whether  in  eating,  drink- 
ing, dress,  or  habits  generally.  If  you  see  a  girl  of  sev- 
enteen or  eighteen  years  of  age  dressing  in  all  the  varie- 
gated colors  of  the  rainbow,  you  may  be  pretty  sure  she 
has  a  mother  whose  raiment  is  as  mixed  in  shades  as  the 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  151 

feathers  of  a  parrot,  and  her  head  is  not  much  superior 
in  development ;  for,  no  matter  what  our  occupation  or 
station  may  be,  I  always  think  you  can  discover  a  well- 
balanced  brain  by  the  manner  a  man  or  woman  may 
dress  and  conduct  themselves.  You  can  soon  perceive 
what  they  have  been  used  to  at  home,  and  what  their 
social  cultivation  has  been.  Of  course,  there  are  excep- 
tions to  all  rules ;  but  we  are  more  likely  to  imitate  and 
remember  scenes,  sayings,  and  doings  at  home,  longer 
than  all  the  changes  we  meet  with  in  after-life. 

Many  a  man  has  been  on  the  eve  of  committing  a 
wrong  act,  and  fancied  he  has  heard  a  good  mother's 
voice  ringing  in  his  ears,  and  has  been  deterred  from  com- 
mitting the  act.  In  another  lecture,  I  intend  to  expatiate 
further  upon  this  subject.  With  regard  to  taste  in  eat- 
ing, I  did  not  like  sweet-potatoes  when  I  first  tasted 
them,  nor  corn  either.  In  three  years,  I  liked  them  ex- 
ceedingly ;  and  on  my  return  to  England,  after  living 
here  ten  years,  I  quite  missed  these  American  produc- 
tions, and  used  to  describe  them  to  my  friends ;  and  I 
would  feel  much  annoyed  that  they  did  not  seem  to  ap- 
preciate my  description.  They  would  laugh  at  my  cha- 
grin, and  say,  "  But  we  never  tasted  them,  and  so  don't 
miss  them,  if  you  do."  The  death  of  my  father  caused 
a  great  reverse  in  our  circumstances  ;  and  my  only  sister 
had  to  make  her  valuable  education  her  livelihood  ;  and 
so  much  was  she  sought  after,  that  she  overworked  her- 
self, and  became  weak.  As  is  usually  the  case,  she  was 


152  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

ordered  by  our  medical  adviser  to  drink  porter.  My 
friends,  I  have  seen  my  mother  stand  by  and  make  her 
take  it,  with  loaf-sugar  in  her  hand  to  give  her  to  put 
the  taste  out  of  her  mouth,  just  as  I  do  to  my  Willie 
when  I  give  him  jalap.  Two  years  after,  I  have  seen 
her  drink  porter  at  her  dinner  without  the  aid  of  sugar. 
When  I  first  heard  that  ladies  in  the  South  chewed  snuff, 
I  candidly  tell  you  that  I  did  not  give  the  slightest  cre- 
dence to  the  report.  I  thought  the  lady  who  informed 
me  was  either  deranged,  or  had  a  very  fertile  imagination. 
It  was  not  until  I  had  ocular  proof  that  I  believed  it ; 
because  I  knew,  that,  if  a  morsel  of  snuff  came  near  my 
mouth,  I  should  certainly  spit  it  out.  Now,  this  taste 
must  have  been  acquired ;  for  no  person  could  like  snuff 
at  first.  I  shall  never  forget  my  horror,  during  one  of 
my  accouchements,  in  the  South,  seeing  my  nurse,  early 
in  the  morning,  first  take  a  glass  of  brandy,  then  smoke 
a  pipe,  and  finish  by  putting  a  large  quid  of  tobacco  in 
her  mouth.  I  felt  quite  certain  she  was  not  a  fit  person 
to  have  the  care  of  a  tender,  helpless  baby,  and  deter- 
mined to  inform  the  doctor  that  I  must  have  another 
woman  who  had  none  of  these  propensities.  "  Lord 
bless  you,  madam  !  "  said  he,  "  it  will  be  a  hard  matter 
to  find  a  woman  such  as  you  want.  Why,  there  is  hard- 
ly a  lady  in  Hilsbrough  but  what  uses  tobacco  in  some 
form,  —  even  girls  of  fifteen  years  ;  and  I  read  in  a  New- 
York  paper,  that  one  of  the  fashionable  shops  on  Broad- 
way, on  an  average,  sells  one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of 
snuff  in  a  day  !  "  So  much  for  TASTE  ! 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  153 

How  often  you  will  hear  a  cold,  conceited,  phlegmatic, 
moderate-drinker  say,  "  Yes,  yes  !  it  is  all  very  well.  But 
I  consider  a  man  that  has  no  power  over  himself  weak  ;. 
and  a  drunkard  must  have  a  low  mind."  I  beg  Mr. 
Moderate-Drinker's  pardon :  drunkenness  confines  itself 
to  no  station,  to  no  particular  class,  grade,  or  profession. 
There  are  drunken  kings  and  drunken  beggars.  Men 
with  high  intellect,  and  men  with  no  intellect,  drink. 
Poets,  whose  descriptive  powers  and  eloquent  language 
have  entranced  and  charmed  you,  drink.  Actors,  whose 
impersonations  have  spell-bound  you,  drink.  Statesmen, 
with  fine  powers  of  oratory,  and  whose  noble  deeds  will 
be  handed  down  to  posterity,  have  drank.  All  these  dif- 
ferent men,  with  different  minds,  and  in  different  posi- 
tions of  life,  have  found  themselves,  when  too  late,  slaves 
to  drink! 

What  more  do  you  wish  me  to  say  to  convince  you 
that  "  Band-of-Hope  "  institutions  are  necessary  to  abol- 
ish drunkenness,  and  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  mankind 
and  Christianity  ?  What  more  can  I  say  to  convince 
you  moderate-drinkers,  that  this  tyrant,  this  despot,  if 
once  he  gets  you  into  \iisfangs,  —  no  matter  if  you  are 
at  the  highest  pinnacle  of  rank,  —  he  will  prostrate  you 
in  the  gutter,  and  level  you  with  the  dust !  No  matter 
if  you  are  at  the  highest  pinnacle  of  fame,  through  the 
genius  which  God  gave  you,  showing  that  you  belong  to 
his  nobility,  this  demon  will  equalize  you  with  the  imbe- 
cile, with  the  maniac. 


154  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

Some  of  you  whom  it  has  pleased  God  to  place  wealth 
in  your  hands,  set  to  work  with  it ;  for  it  was  not  all 
given  to  you  to  consume  upon  yourselves,  but  lent  to 
you  to  help  the  afflicted,  the  desolate,  and  reform  the  dis- 
solute. What  holier  province  do  you  want  than  to 
bring  the  drunkard  back  to  his  manly  footing  in  society 
with  his  fellow-men  ?  Yes,  there  is  a  holier  responsi- 
bility for  you  fathers  and  mothers  to  fulfil ;  and  that  is 
to  carry  out  the  efforts  that  have  been  made  towards 
quelling  the  traffic  of  this  fod^-and-so^Z-destroying 
liquor.  Let  me  appeal  to  you  women,  you  mothers, 
who  have  much  more  to  do  with  the  forming  of  the 

O 

minds  of  your  children  than  the  fathers  have ;  for  al- 
most all  the  great  men  we  have  ever  had,  speaking  of 
their  earliest  thoughts,  feelings,  sentiments,  and  actions, 
will,  with  pride,  recount  that  their  holiest,  highest,  and 
most  lasting  impressions  were  inculcated  by  their  mother. 
How  proud  we  ought  all  feel  that  such  a  mighty  province 
was  ordained  for  woman  to  fill !  But,  alas !  I  fear  there 
are  but  few  of  us  who  carry  out  the  many  obligations 
devolving  upon  us,  and  incumbent  upon  us  to  exercise 
and  to  execute  faithfully,  as  meant  by  Him  who  honored 
us  with  this  sacred  name.  And  yet  there  is  no  love  so 
pure  and  so  thoroughly  disinterested  as  the  love  of  a  good 
woman  for  her  child :  it  is  the  holiest  of  loves,  because 
it  is  entirely  divested  of  passion,  it  is  entirely  di- 
vested of  self.  While  the  senses  remain  unimpaired, 
this  love  never  grows  cold :  this  love  knows  no  change. 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  155 

Brothers  and  sisters  have  forgotten  each  other ;  fathers 
have  proved  unforgiving  to  their  children ;  husbands 
have  been  false  to  their  wives,  and  vice  versd ;  lovers 
forget  their  vows  ;  and  children  too  often  forget  their 
parents :  but  you  rarely  hear  of  a  mother  forgetting  even 
her  ungrateful,  disobedient  children,  whose  actions  have 
lacerated  her  heart,  and  caused  dark  shadows  to  glide 
before  her  eyes,  and  enter  her  very  soul.  Still  there 
are  moments  when  her  faithful  heart  yearns  towards 
them  ;  there  are  moments  when  the  reminiscences  of  the 
happy  past  obliterate  the  present  sorrow,  and  the  poor, 
wounded  spirit  is  cheered  for  a  while,  because  there  is 
still  one  of  the  fibres  of  the  root  of  hope  left  in  her  for- 
lorn breast,  and  a  languid  smile  will  flit  over  her  wan 
and  prematurely-faded  face.  Yes,  she  forgives,  though 
there  is  no  River  Lethe  for  her  to  drink  from  in  this 
life.  Showing  that  her  love  is  the  most  pure  in  this 
world,  and  the  nearest  approach  to  the  love  that  God 
has  so  graciously  bestowed  us,  and  so  openly  manifested 
to  us  all. 

"  How  is  it,  Mrs.  Boone  "  (said  an  old  bachelor  to 
me,  a  short  time  since),  —  "  how  is  it  there  is  not  more 
nature  in  the  present  age,  and  less  sophistication  in  so- 
ciety, and  that  the  tender  mothers  you  speak  of  do  not 
teach  their  daughters  to  fit  themselves  for  wives  and 
mothers  ?  for  they  all  seem  to  be  ^setting  traps  to  get 
husbands.  Why,"  continued  he,  "  the  young  ladies  of 
the  present  day  are  quite  ashamed,  should  they  be  igno- 


156  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

rant  of  the  name  of  the  last  new  opera  and  its  composer, 
but  would  feel  quite  indignant  if  they  were  asked  if 
they  knew  how  to  make  good  soup,  or  broil  a  beefsteak." 
—  "  My  observing  friend,"  I  replied,  "  this  is  an  error  of 
judgment,  and  not  of  the  heart."  —  "  Then  give  me  a 
little  more  judgment,  and  a  little  less  heart,  if  this  is  the 
result  of  the  error,"  replied  he.  I  answered,  "  Do  I  not 
say  there  are  few  of  us  who  carry  out  the  many  obliga- 
tions devolving  upon  us  to  exercise  and  execute  faith- 
fully ?  Mothers  are  far  too  apt  to  think  their  children 
perfect,  and  to  flatter  themselves  that  they  will  never  do 
wrong."  This  is  one  of  the  greatest  evils  that  a  mother 
can  commit  towards  her  child ;  and,  to  show  you  how 
truthful  the  analyzation  is  of  this  failing  in  mothers  gen- 
erally, I  ask  }rou  women  here  to-night,  if  you  thought 
that  your  Willie  or  Henry  that  God  has  been  good 
enough  to  give  to  you,  —  if  you  thought  that  these  dear 
ones,  whom  you  have  borne  and  nurtured,  would  live  to 
become  drunkards,  would  you  not  at  once  denounce 
drink,  fearing,  that,  by  not  doing  so,  it  might  prove  a 
stepping-stone  to  their  ruin  ?  I  know  you  would,  and 
you  know  you  would.  But,  my  friends,  you  flatter 
yourselves  that  your  children  will  know  how  much  to 
take,  and  when  to  leave  off.  It  is  this  delusion  that  is 
the  great  curse  of  drink.  If  men  knew  how  much  to 
take,  and  when  to  stop,  I  query  whether  we  would  have 
ever  had  occasion  for  teetotal  meetings  at  all. 

Now,  as  this  gentleman  asked  of  me  why  girls  are  not 


ADDRESSES   ON  TEMPERANCE.  157 

better  fitted  for  an  office  that  they  are  angling  for,  I  ask 
you  mothers  why,  when  you  so  love  your  children,  and 
see  and  feel  the  truth  of  what  I  am  asserting,  and  hun- 
dreds before  me  have  pointed  out  to  you,  why  do  you 
run  the  risk  of  your  children  travelling  the  same  road  ? 
It  is  not  for  want  of  love,  my  dear  friends,  but  for  want 
of  thought.  Now,  I  pray  you,  do  think,  and  save  those 
whom  you  would  almost  die  for  that  they  might  live  ! 

Some  mothers  think,  that  if  they  keep  their  children 
clean,  well  dressed,  and  send  them  to  school,  they  are 
doing  all  that  is  required  of  them.  My  friends,  ask 
yourselves,  Can  the  young  girls  who  teach  your  children 
have  the  same  interest  in  them  that  you  have  ?  even  if 
they  were  capable  of  instilling  high  principles  into  their 
thoughts  ?  No,  you  answer ;  and  so  do  I.  The  excellent 
schools  in  this  free  country  are  indeed  a  blessing  to  the 
community  at  large  ;  but  I  pray  you  bear  in  mind  that 
scholastic  education  is  not  every  thing  :  it  is  the  educa- 
tion of  the  heart,  and  the  natural  instincts  that  mankind 
is  heir  to,  that  a  mother  must  guide,  direct,  and  turn 
them  into  the  right  channel.  And  where  will  you  find 
so  prudent  a  pilot  as  a  mother,  if  she  sees  danger  hover- 
ing over  the  head  of  her  child  ?  Who  will  leave  all,  and 
risk  all,  to  save  her  beloved  one  from  some  frightful 
precipice  that  they  are  standing  on  the  very  brink  of? 
A  mother.  My  friends,  let  me  warn  you  who  are  not 
temperance  mothers,  that  your  children  are  at  this 
moment  in  the  most  imminent  danger,  and  that  it  is 


158  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

high  time  you,  put  forth  your  protecting  hand  to  save 
them  by  taking  the  pledge  yourselves.  And,  when  you 
do  so,  you  will  feel  that  you  have  achieved  a  great  act ; 
you  will  then  place  yourself  and  offspring  upon  the  high 
footing  that  God  meant  for  us  all.  God  never  intended 
one  of  his  creatures,  whom  he  honored  by  making  in  his 
"  own  image,"  to  be  a  drunkard :  he  did  not  give  us 
sense,  talent,  and  genius  (which  we  all  possess,  more  or 
less,  in  different  ways),  to  be  muddled  always  with  gin 
and  beer  :  he  never  gave  a  woman  a  child,  but  that  he 
gave  her  the  sense  to  train  and  care  for  it,  if  she  will 
take  the  trouble,  — just  as  he  prepares  and  gives  her  the 
milk  to  nourish  it.  He  gave  us  a  high  standing ;  and  it 
is  our  own  actions  that  lower  us.  He  places  us  upon  a 
high  mountain]  audit  is  our  fault  if  we  fall  into  the 
abyss  beneath.  God  shows  clearly  the  elevated  position 
he  meant  for  us,  by  giving  his  precious  Son,  and  allowing 
him  to  walk  the  earth  shaped  like  a  man,  speaking  like 
a  man,  and  holding  communion  with  man,  to  show  him 
the  nearest  way  back  to  salvation.  God  makes  no  dis- 
tinction, further  than  that  the  best  man  is  the  surest  of 
heaven.  The  workingman,  I  think,  is  the  greatest  in 
his  estimation  if  he  leads  a  proper  life.  And  frequently 
the  humbler  classes  have  the  most  intellect ;  but  it  must 
be  cultivated ;  and  this  you  can  do  yourselves,  if  you 
please. 

I  was  never  at  school,  and  would  not  learn  at  home 
of  my  highly-cultivated    and    noble-minded  mother; 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  159 

still  her  pure  example  and  exemplary  precepts  sunk 
deeply  into  my  heart ;  and  I  reaped  the  intended  benefit 
in  after-years.  I  married  very  young  ;  and,  believe  me, 
when  I  entered  my  new  career  of  life,  there  were  few 
girls  who  knew  less  than  I  did.  I  am  not  going  to  tell 
you  that  I  am  a  learned  woman  now :  but  I  will  tell  you, 
that  I  am  a  thinking  woman  and  a  working  one  ;  for 
this  is  what  I  have  been  for  the  last  twenty  years.  And 
I  cannot  help  feeling  a  little  pride,  that  eight  out  of  the 
nine  living  children  I  have,  were  never  inside  a  school 
since  they  were  born.  And  all  they  know  has  been 
taught  them  by  their  mother. 

Shall  I  tell  you  how  the  darkness  of  my  ignorance 
vanished,  and  the  light  of  my  understanding  shone  forth  ? 
When  I  became  a  mother,  then  rushed  upon  me  the 
truth  of  my  good  mother's  precepts  and  experience  ;  and 
I  felt  the  tender  chords  of  my  heart  touched,  and  improved 
my  mind,  so  that  I  might  instruct  those  who  are  so  near 
and  dear  to  me. 

I  need  scarcely  inform  you,  thinking  mothers  here  to- 
night, that  I  have  had  a  pretty  hard  task  to  fit  children 
seven  and  eight  years  old  to  read  classically,  and  so  per- 
fectly as  to  call  forth  the  greatest  admiration  from  some 
of  the  most  able  critics  in  New  York  and  London. 
The  late  •well-known  poet,  Gen.  MORRIS,  who  heard 
my  children  several  times  at  Gen.  Scott's  house,  pro- 
nounced them,  in  his  "  Home  Journal,"  patterns  for 
"  children  of  a  larger  growth  ;  "  and  Miss  Charlotte  Gush- 


160  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

man,  in  a  letter  to  ray  husband,  which  I  had  inserted  in 
"  The  Herald,"  wrote  that  they  were  the  best  readers 
she  ever  had  heard.  And,  at  the  tender  ages  of  nine  and 
ten  years,  I  had  a  salary  of  two  hundred  dollars  per 
week,  when  dollars  were  dollars;  and,  nine  years  ago, 
these  children  appeared  and  read  at  all  the  principal 
schools  in  this  city  ;  and  the  same  academies  are  now 
engaging  myself,  with  fresh  branches  of  the  family,  to 
read  and  recite  before  the  young  ladies  this  winter. 
This  is  sufficient  evidence  to  show  the  estimation  they 
are  held  in  by  first-class  teachers. 

So,  my  friends,  this  will  plainly  demonstrate  to  you 
how  much  can  be  achieved  by  determination,  discrimina- 
tion, and  cultivating  only  the  talents  that  we  are  most 
likely  to  shine  in,  and  able  to  adopt  for  our  livelihood. 
And  I  believe  every  man  and  woman  wras  meant  to  be 
great  in  something,  and  they  can  shine  if  they  like;  but 
there  is  very  little  hope  of  your  continuing  to  shine  with- 
out temperance  for  your  motto ;  and,  if  you  keep  to 
this,  you  can  make  yourselves  masters  of  any  occupa- 
tion your  inclination  may  lead  you  to  seek  for. 

Some  people  try  to  push  twenty  different  things  into 
their  children's  heads  at  once,  to  make  them  very  clever  ; 
but  this  mode  of  educating  the  young  always  proves  a 
failure.  Learn  a  few  things  perfectly  ;  and,  if  you  have 
the  genius  for  more,  they  will  be  sure  to  develop  them- 
selves in  some  part  of  your  lives. 

Now,  my  dear  friends,  I  have  given  you  a  slight  idea 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  161 

of  what  I  have  had  to  do  to  gain  an  honorable  living, 
and  make  my  mark  in  this  world ;  and  I  tell  you  truth- 
fully, that  I  would  rather  be  here,  showing  you  the 
beauties  of  temperance,  and  talking  to  you  mothers  about 
the  future  welfare  of  your  children,  than  reading  at  the 
finest  house  in  the  Fifth  Avenue.  Oh,  what  a  holy  labor 
of  love  for  we  mothers  to  make  a  deep  pit  among  the 
drunkards  to  plant  a  young  tree  called  "  The  Band  of 
Hope,"  so  that  the  branches  may  come  out  fresh  and 
green,  free  from  distemper,  and  the  blossom  so  clear  and 
clean,  that,  when  the  fruit  comes  to  maturity,  we  will 
find  it  pure  and  unalloyed  ;  no  disease  at  the  core  that 
requires  to  be  expelled,  because  the  root  was  well  cared 
for,  put  into  new  earth,  and  watered  with  the  fountain 
of  life  by  the  fostering  care  of  a  mother's  hand  ! 

My  dear  friends,  I  trust  my  humble  appeal  to  you 
this  evening  has  not  been  in  vain.  Let  us  lead  our  chil- 
dren up  to  the  high  position  God  meant  we  all  should 
attain.  But  remember,  all  your  great  thoughts,  all  your 
determination,  all  your  perseverance  to  get  to  the  top  of 
the  mountain  of  fame,  like  the  "  Tower  of  Babel,"  will 
fall  to  the  ground,  unless  you  make  your  First  Step  a 
Firm  one,  —  upon  the  Solid  Rock  of  Temperance. 
11 


162  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 


AN  ADDRESS  TO  THE  BAND  OF  HOPE, 


And  delivered  by  her  son  Daniel  (nine  years  old),  on  Tuesday,  Sept.  22, 
1862,  at  the  Eclectic  Hall,  18  Denmark  Street,  Soho,  London,-  being 
the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Band  of  Hope,  to  which  he  belonged  when  Jive 
years  old.  And  at  the  Children's  Mission,  Tremont  Street,  Boston,  1870. 


MY  YOUNG  FRIENDS,  who  are  members  of  this  Band 
of  Hope,  it  occurred  to  me,  when  I  heard  this  meeting 
was  to  take  place  to-night,  that  I  would  ask  my  mother 
to  write  a  few  lines  in  the  shape  of  an  address  to  you,  to 
show  you,  as  clearly  as  I  am  able,  how  much  I  rejoice  in 
belonging  to  thi&  band.  I  think  a  great  deal  on  this  sub- 
ject ;  but,  without  my  mother's  aid,  I  am  unable  to  ex- 
press my  ideas  in  language  that  would  be  intelligible  and 
agreeable  for  you  to  hear.  Still  I  wish  you  to  bear  in 
mind  that  each  sentiment  I  shall  utter  this  evening  is 
quite  in  accordance  with  my  thoughts, — as  the  meaning 
of  every  word  is  explained  to  me  before  I  deliver  it. 
Now,  this  subject  (TEMPERANCE),  we  may  call  a  divine 
subject ;  for  it  is  the  foundation-stone  to  Christianity : 
and  it  is  much  to  be  doubted  whether  a  man  can,  in  re- 
ality, be  a  divine  without  temperance  for  his  motto.  For 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  163 

what  man  is  fit  to  discuss  the  mysterious  works  of  our 
Creator  when  under  the  unnatural  excitement  caused  by 
using  alcoholic  liquors  ?  Of  course,  I  shall  not  attempt 
to  explain  why  this  fiery  drink  makes  young  men  like 
feeble,  trembling  age  ;  or  why  it  makes  men  like  idiots 
while  under  its  baneful  influence,  —  simply  because  I  am 
not  at  present  learned  enough  so  to  do.  Yet  the  young- 
est child  here  to-night,  who  can  speak  the  English  lan- 
guage pretty  well,  knows  a  drunken  man  from  a  sober 
one ;  and,  likewise,  that  the  said  drunkenness  is  caused 
by  gin,  beer,  or  some  stuff  sold  in  public-houses.  In 
many  districts  in  London,  we  can  behold  these  wretched 
drunkards  in  every  street  we  pass  through.  But  we 
must  not  deride  and  scorn  these  unhappy  people ;  for, 
in  all  probability,  they  were  never  sent  to  these  "  Band 
of  Hope"  meetings  when  they  were  children  like  you 
and  me  here  to-night. 

How  grateful  we  ought  to  be  to  a  kind  Providence 
that  such  a  place  has  been  instituted,  and  open  to  any 
child  who  may  wisli  to  come  and  learn  good  precepts, 
from  willing  and  capable  teachers,  who  are  most  zealous 
in  the  noble  cause.  I  consider  these  "  Band  of  Hope  " 
meetings  the  greatest  movement  that  the  Temperance 
League  has  ever  made  towards  crushing  drunkenness  ; 
because  you  and  I  cannot  desire  a  thing  we  have  never 
tasted ;  and,  surely,  nothing  can  ever  tempt  us  to  touch 
an  article  that  we  have  been  taught  to  know  will  injure 
our  bodily  health  as  well  as  our  brain. 


164  ADDRESSES  ON   TEMPERANCE. 

What  a  happy  thought  for  us,  large  and  small,  here 
to-night,  who  are,  as  it  were,  younger  soldiers  in  this 
hopeful  band  ready  to  fight  for  our  cause,  and  defend  it 
at  all  hazards,  if  necessary  !  but  the  weapon  we  will  carry 
to  defend  us  will  be  a  dear  head,  —  which  will  direct 
our  tongues  to  battle  with  our  opposers,  —  rather  than 
swords  and  pistols. 

I  say  what  a  happy  thought  to  feel  that  we  are  in  a 
fair  way  of  becoming  vigorous,  robust,  healthy,  rational, 
reputable,  and  in  every  way  creditable  men.  These  are 
blessings  we  ought  not  to  treat  lightly;  and  in  years 
hence  we  shall  feel  fully  what  evils  we  have  escaped  by 
joining  this  glorious  society.  Yes  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt 
but  there  are  many  boys  here  to-night  who  think  just  as 
I  do  on  this  subject ;  for  we  little  boys  think  more  deeply 
than  you  grown  people  give  us  credit  for.  The  great 
beauty  of  being  an  abstainer  is,  that  we  can  be  sober 
wherever  we  go,  and  consequently  must  be  respected 
in  whatever  grade  fate  may  please  to  place  us. 

No  matter  what  our  calling  may  be  through  life,  if  we 
keep  temperance  for  our  motto,  honesty  for  our  coat-of- 
arms,  truth  for  our  guide,  and  the  fear  of  Grod  in  our 
hearts,  we  shall  stand  equal  in  his  sight  to  the  first  nolle 
in  the  land,  even  if  he  wear  a  crown  upon  his  head. 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  165 


AN  ADDRESS 

TO  PERSONS  WHO  TAKE  BEER  AND  OTHER  STIMULANTS 
BECAUSE  THEY  ARE  "USED  TO  THEM,  BUT  DON'T  CARE 
ABOUT  THEM." 


WRITTEN  BY  MRS.  ANNA  B.   BOONE, 

And  delivered  by  her  little  son  Daniel  (nine  years  old),  at  the  Royal 
Coliseum,  Regent's  Park,  London,  Nov.  9,  1863. 


LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN, —  I  fear  you  will  think  a 
temperance-lecture  out  of  place  to-night,  at  such  an 
entertainment  as  the  present  one,  especially  being  deliv- 
ered by  a  little  boy ;  but  I  am  such  an  advocate  in  a 
cause  that  I  have  practised  all  my  life,  and  found  the 
benefits  therefrom,  that  I  cannot  resist  the  temptation 
of  addressing  so  fair  an  assembly  of  lovely  ladies  and 
intellectual-looking  men  :  in  fact,  I  think  it  becomes  all 
persons  who  are  stanch  teetotallers,  no  matter  how 
young  or  old  they  are,  no  matter  where  they  are 
placed,  to  say  a  few  words  on  so  important  a  subject,  — 
a  subject  that  so  greatly  affects  the  community  at  large. 

Now,  I  have  been  nine  years  a  practical  member 
of  this  glorious  temperance  society ;  and  although  I  am 
not  old  enough  to  be  designated  a  man,  yet  I  am  old 


166    ^  ADDRESSES  O.V  TEMPERANCE. 

enough  to  know  right  from  wrong ;  and  I  feel  that 
I  have  been  guided  into  the  right  path,  —  the  path  of 
total  abstinence.  There  is  no  mistake  about  it,  "  total 
abstinence "  is  the  word,  and  nothing  short  of  it.  I 
have  a  few  suggestions  to  make  to  you  moderate  drink- 
ers. A  great  many  exclaim  that  they  take  beer  "  be- 
cause they  are  used  to  it,"  and  that  they  "  don't  care 
about  it,"  mark  you,  but  don't  think  they  have  a  right 
to  give  it  up  because  others  get  drunk.  Now,  my 
friends,  there  is  neither  logic  nor  reason  in  either  of 
these  arguments,  and  to  use  a  Latin  phrase,  argumentum 
ad  ignorantaim,  a  foolish  argument  ;  for  we  all  know, 
that  taking  beer  because  they  are  used  to  it  is  not  a  sig- 
nification that  the  action  is  right,  because  they  have 
made  a  habit  of  it ;  for  we  can  habituate  ourselves  to 
almost  any  thing  if  our  minds  are  at  all  so  inclined, 
whether  good  or  evil.  And  again :  these  moderate 
drinkers  argue  that  they  have  no  right  to  give  it  up, 
when  they  never  get  drunk.  How  is  it  possible  for 
them  to  be  sure  they  will  never  get  intoxicated  ? 
For  there  are  not  ten  men  out  of  a  thousand  that 
ever  look  to  become  drivelling  sots  when  they  take 
the  first  glass  ;  and  yet  the  first  glass  is  the  founda- 
tion to  this  crushing  curse,  —  intemperance.  And  you 
moderate  drinkers  will  not  leave  off  this  custom,  al- 
though you  daily  witness  its  direful  effects  as  being  so 
detrimental  in  every  way  to  society,  because  you  are 
quite  sure  you  will  never  take  too  much.  Presumptu- 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  167 

ous  men !  —  when  so  many  learned  men,  great  men, 
yes,  and  even  good  men,  have  found  themselves  slaves, 
chained  down  to  poverty  by  this  demoniac  tyrant,  King 
Alcohol.  Now,  you  who  "  do  not  care  for  beer,"  why 
don't  you  abjure  it  altogether,  if  only  from  a  kind  Chris- 
tian feeling  towards  your  fellow-men,  whose  minds  may 
not  be  so  capable  of  resistance  as  you  attest  yours  to 
be,  and  who  are  in  a  fair  way  of  becoming  drunkards  ? 
for  the  sake  of  the  rising  generation,  more  especially 
when  you  remember  that  your  own  offspring  are  among 
them  ? 

Let  me  beseech  you,  all  who  don't  care  about  this 
loathsome  drink,  to  try  my  system  for  three  months. 
WATER,  WATER!  beautiful  water,  exhilarating  water, 
that  never  clouds  the  understanding,  but  refreshes  the 
drooping,  and  restores  the  fainting,  without  the  smallest 
drop  of  brandy  in  it.  I  say,  try  my  system  for  three 
months,  and  I  will  guarantee  that  you  will  find  your 
brain  clearer,  your  feet  lighter  (without  staggering), 
and  your  general  health  invigorated.  I  feel  in  the  finest 
state  of  health ;  and  I  have  never  touched  any  kind  of 
stimulant  since  I  was  born.  Some  of  you  will  say,  u  Yes, 
yes  ;  but  you  have  never  worked."  I  reply,  "Don't  you 
be  too  sure  of  that ;"  for  my  mother  says,  that  my  earn- 
ings for  the  last  two  years  have  not  only  supported 
myself,  but  helped  her  too.  My  vocation  is  to  speak 
pieces  that  she  writes  for  me  ;  and  often  and  often  is  it 
past  twelve  o'clock  before  I  retire  to  rest.  So  you  per- 


168  ADDRESSES  ON   TEMPERANCE. 

ceive  I  am  a  worker,  and  am  proud  of  work  ;  and  we 
workers  are  the  men  who  should  speak  our  experience, 

—  we  who  know  what  labor  is.     Where  mio-ht  I  have 

o 

been  by  this  time,  and  what  might  I  have  been,  if  I  had 
taken  the  delicious,  black,  sticky  porter  two  or  three 
times  a  day?  Still  you  mu,;t  not  think  I  am  without 
my  troubles  and  temptations  because  I  am  a  teetotaller, 
and  not  a  married  man :  in  fact,  I  think  we  bachelors 
are  in  greater  danger  than  you  married  folks  ;  for  your 
wives  take  such  good  care  of  you,  —  the  buttons  put  on 
your  beautiful  clean  shirts,  and  your  clothes  brushed 
down  just  before  you  are  going  out ;  and  some  of  the 
little  darlings  actually  comb  and  curl  your  hair ;  and, 
when  they  have  finished  you  off  to  perfection,  they 
won't  let  you  off  without  a  sweet  kiss,  saying,  u  Be 
sure  to  be  back  to  dinner,  John  ;  for,  if  you  don't  come, 
I  shall  not  be  able  to  touch  a  bit ; "  and,  last  of  all,  she 
makes  her  lovely  fat  baby  say,  "  Ta,  ta,  da,  da." 

Many  a  fair  hand  has  put  a  goblet  of  wine  under  my 
nose  to  tempt  me  ;  but  I  have  turned  from  it  as  a  sane 
man  would  from  a  dose  of  laudanum.  Yes,  my  friends; 
and,  if  you  will  do  the  same,  the  stigma  of  drunken- 
ness will  ere  long  be  entirely  obliterated  from  our  fair 
land,  and,  eventually,  teetotalism  will  reign  predominant 
throughout  the  world  ;  and  the  present  existing  state  of 
things  will  be  spoken  of  in  the  past  tense  by  mothers  to 
their  children,  just  as  they  relate  fairy  tales  now-a-days, 

—  that  in  olden  times  there  was  a  slow  poison  sold  that 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  169 

fascinated  persons,  and  that,  the  more  they  drank  it,  the 
more  they  wanted  it ;  and  on  they  would  drink  until 
their  senses  were  entirely  gone ;  and  they  would  do  the 
most  outrageous  things  when  under  the  influence  of  this 
injurious  beverage.  And  when  the  effects  of  the  drink 
had  passed  away,  and  these  persons  became  perfectly 
sober  again,  on  being  told  of  the  acts  they  had  com- 
mitted, and  the  sayings  they  had  said,  excessive  shame 
would  pervade  their  countenances  ;  and  they  would  pro- 
test that  they  had  determined  never  to  touch  the  filthy 
stuff  any  more.  And  yet  again  they  were  lured,  and 
again  and  again ;  for  this  drink  had  the  fascination  of  a 
rattlesnake  for  them.  And  this  degraded  mode  of  liv- 
ing, my  dear  children  (the  mother  will  add),  went  on 
for  hundreds  of  years,  until  the  glorious  sons  of  temper- 
ance set  their  bright  example,  and  emancipated  us  from 
this  thraldom,  and  freed  us  from  these  black  iron  chains, 
and  eradicated  this  noxious  custom  from  the  universe.. 
And  the  little  children  with  clasped  hands  will  answer,. 
"  O  mother!  how  glad  we  are  we  did  not  live  in  those 
days,  when  men,  with  their  proper  senses  God  had  given; 
them,  drank  stuff  that  they  knew  would  take  those 
senses  away,  and  lie  down  like  beasts  in  the  open 
streets."  The  mother  will  press  her  little  ones  to  her 
bosom,  and  humbly  ejaculate,  "  Amen  !  " 

O  my  friends !  come  and  join  us  to-night;  and  this 
little  episode  I  have  introduced  will  come  to  pass  all  the* 
sooner.  Come  and  sign  the  pledge  to-night,  and  let  the 


170  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

black  cloud  (drunkenness),  pass  away  at  once  from  this 
earth,  that  the  bright  star  of  temperance  may  shine 
forth  on  this  terrestrial  territory  as  brilliantly  as  one  of 
those  silvery  planets  that  we  may  so  often  see  glittering 
in  God's  celestial  hemisphere. 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  171 


AN   ORIGINAL   TEMPERANCE-LECTURE, 

Written  by  Anna  B.  Boonefor  the  "Cold  Water  Army,"  or  "  Band  of  Hope," 
and  delivered  by  her  Son,  Daniel  Boone,  the  Youngest  Temperance  Orator 
in  the  World,  at  Roger  Williams  Hall,  Providence,  on  the  3Qth  of  January, 
1867 ;  and  at  Tremont  Temple,  Boston. 


"Out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings  Thou  hast  perfected  praise." 

MATT.  zxi.  15,  16. 
"  Genius  when  young  is  divine."  — DISRAELI. 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN,  —  I  am  happy  to  be  with 
you  again  to-night  to  speak  upon  my  favorite  subject,  — 
temperance.  Some  of  you,  who  do  not  belong  to  this 
organization,  may  exclaim,  on  leaving  this  hall,  "  What 
right  has  that  child  or  anybody  to  be  talking  to  us 
as  if  we  were  a  set  of  drunkards?"  My  friends, 
this  is  not  the  question.  We  didn't  say  that  you  are 
drunkards  because  you  do  not  belong  to  us ;  and,  very 
probably,  at  this  moment  there  is  not  one  man  in  this 
room  who  could  be  called  by  such  a  name.  But  we  ask 
if  you  have  denounced  drink  publicly  ?  Have  you  abol- 
ished it  from  your  house,  from  your  table,  privately  ?  If 
not,  you  are  indirectly  encouraging  drunkenness.  With 
regard  to  my  age,  it  is  of  little  consequence  whether  I 
am  eleven  years  old,  or  fifty  years  old,  and  of  still  less 


172  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

account  whether  I  am  four  feet  high  or  six  feet  high,  so 
I  deliver  my  sentiments  plainly  and  to  the  point,  so  that 
those  whom  I  address  understand  me :  ani  I  speaking 
the  truth  ?  These  are  the  questions  you  must  ask  your- 
selves, and  at  the  same  time  remember,  age  does  not  al- 
ways develop  brains.  Disraeli  says,  genius,  when  young, 
is  divine.  Extreme  youth  overthrew  the  Persian  em- 
pire ;  and  I  am  trying  to  overthrow  the  cursed  gin-shops 
that  my  fair  country  is  inundated  with  at  the  present 
moment.  A  short  time  ago,  I  was  looking  over  an  old 
scrap-book  of  my  mother's,  and  found  the  following 
statement,  cut  out  of  "  The  New-York  Times,"  dated 
1856  :  "  On  Monday  evening  last,  one  of  the  Boston 
station-houses  presented  a  scene,  which,  by  those  who 
witnessed  it,  will  be  long  and  painfully  remembered. 
Some  of  the  officers  of  that  station  had  been  called  into 
a  tenement  to  quell  a  disturbance,  and  there  found  Mrs. 
Margaret  Murphy  in  a  state  of  unconscious  drunken- 
ness, with  her  little  infant  crying  on  her  breast,  and  the 
older  child,  a  boy  of  seven  years,  rolling  about  the  room 
in  a  state  of  maudlin  intoxication.  The  whole  party 
were  taken  to  the  station-house,  where  the  drunken 
shouts  of  the  mother,  and  the  insanely  sad  croaks  of  the 
drunken  boy,  mingled  in  the  distressed  chorus  with  the 
plaintive  wailings  of  the  infant  child."  This  case  oc- 
curred ten  years  ago  ;  and  doubtless  many,  many  such 
cases  have  happened  since.  Therefore,  my  friends,  do 
you  not  think  it  is  high  time  that  we  little  temperance 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  173 

boys  should  mount  the  rostrum  to  speak  on  this  holy 
subject,  to  show  forth  its  lasting  beauty,  its  purity,  and 
godliness,  when  comparative  infants  can  relish  this  deadly 
poison  as  if  it  was  their  mother's  milk?  I  joined  the 
Band  of  Hope  when  I  was  five  years  old;  and  my  baby- 
work  can  be  seen  at  18  Denmark  Street,  Soho,  London  ; 
and  from  that  period  I  began  repeating  teetotal  pieces, 
and  by  the  time  I  was  eight  years  old  I  was  engaged 
at  the  Royal  Coliseum,  Regent's  Park,  by  the  well- 
known  Nimo,  at  one  time  the  manager  of  Jenny  Lind,  to 
deliver  my  first  temperance-lecture,  entitled  "  To  those 
who  take  Beer  and  other  Stimulants  because  they  are 
used  to  them,  but  don't  care  about  them."  So  you  per- 
ceive, rny  friends,  I  began  pretty  young  to  plunge  into 
the  spring  of  cold  water.  On  the  12th  of  May,  1866, 
at  the  American  Temperance  Alliance,  held  at  the 
Cooper  Institute,  New  York,  I  was  presented  with  a 
medal,  before  three  thousand  persons,  for  being  the 
youngest  temperance  orator  in  the  world  ;  and  I  fer- 
vently hope  that  I  shall  go  on  lecturing,  speaking,  and 
singing  for  this  wise  and  upright  cause,  if  I  live  to  be 
a  hundred  years  old.  God  forbid  I  should  live  to  forget 
the  value  of  the  golden  precept,  temperance  !  and  I  am 
quite  sure,  then,  those  who  love  me  dearly  would  pray 
to  see  me  dead  at  this  moment  (and  I  would  join  them 
in  this  prayer),  if  I  thought  it  possible  I  could  ever  forget 
my  Band-of-Hope  pledge,  which  I  feel  to  be  a  "  pearl  far 
above  price  ;  "  for  as  my  mother  remarks,  in  her  "  Ap- 


174  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

peal  to  Mothers,"  "  drunkenness  confines  itself  to  no  par- 
ticular age,  class,  grade,  or  profession  :  there  are  drunken 
hogs,  and  drunken  men ;  there  are  drunken  kings,  and 
drunken  beggars.  Men  with  high  intellect,  and  men 
without  intellect,  drink.  Poets  whose  descriptive  powers 
and  eloquent  language  have  entranced  and  charmed  you 
drink.  Actors  whose  impersonations  have  spell-bound 
you  drink.  Statesmen  with  fine  powers  of  oratory,  and 
whose  noble  deeds  will  be  handed  down  to  posterity,  have 
drunk.  All  these  different  men,  with  different  minds, 
and  in  different  positions  of  life,  have  found  themselves, 
when  too  late,  slaves  to  drink."  If  there  are  any  chil- 
dren in  this  hall  who  comprehend  what  I  am  saying,  and 
agree  with  these  sentiments,  don't  let  anybody  put  you 
down  by  laughing  at  you,  and  saying,  "  You  are  too 
young  to  understand  such  subjects."  Let  them  know, 
that,  young  as  you  may  be,  you  do  understand  them. 
And  ask  these  sceptics  if  they  remember  the  twenty-first 
chapter  of  St.  Matthew,  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  verses : 
"  Then  the  children  cried  in  the  temple,  saying,  Hosan- 
na  to  the  son  of  David !  The  chief  priests  were  sore 
displeased,  and  said  to  Jesus,  Hearest  thou  what  these 
say  ?  "  What  was  his  answer  ?  "  Yea,  have  ye  never 
read,  Out  of  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings  Thou 
hast  perfected  praise." 

So  you  perceive,  my  young  friends,  we  have  even  God 
himself  corroborating  what  I  have  just  stated,  —  that  little 
people  may  have  large  brains.  I  know  a  man  in  New 


ADDRESSES  ON   TEMPERANCE.  175 

York  who  said  he  could  not  think  how  any  sensible  per- 
son could  listen  to  the  lecture  of  such  a  child  as  I  am  ; 
and  that  he  did  not  think  I  was  any  thing  more  than  one 
of  Barnum's  monstrosities.  Of  course,  this  will  prove  to 
you  that  he  had  read  but  little,  or  he  would  not  have 
made  use  of  such  stupid  language ;  but  I  am  happy  to 
say  the  many  do  not  think  as  he  does.  Why,  the  great- 
est captains  of  ancient  and  modern  times  both  conquered 
Italy  at  twenty-five.  Don  John  of  Austria  won  Lepanto 
at  twenty-five.  Gaston  de  Foix  was  only  twenty-two 
when  he  stood  victor  on  the  Plains  of  Ravenna.  John 
de  Medicis  was  a  cardinal  at  fifteen  years  of  age.  John 
Wesley  worked  with  young  brains.  Pascal,  the  greatest 
of  Frenchmen,  wrote  a  great  work  at  sixteen.  Was  it 
experience  that  guided  the  pencil  of  Raphael  when  he 
painted  the  palace  of  Rome  ?  Bolingbroke  and  Pitt 
were  both  ministers  before  other  men  leave  off  cricket. 
Grotius  was  in  practice  at  seventeen,  and  attorney- 
general  at  twenty-four.  jiEquaviva  was  general  of  the 
Jesuits,  ruled  every  cabinet  in  Europe,  and  colonized 
America,  at  thirty-five.  What  a  career  !  The  secret 
sway  of  Europe :  that  was  indeed  a  position  !  And  I 
could  give  you  fifty  more  such  instances  if  my  time 
would  permit.  "  The  history  of  heroes,"  says  Disraeli, 
"  is  the  history  of  youth." 

When  I  delivered  two  lectures  at  the  first  New-Eng- 
land National  Temperance  Convention,  held  in  Boston, 
at  Tremont  Temple,  Oct.  3  and  4,  1866, 1  was  delighted 


176  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

to  hear  a  speech  from  Master  Green  of  South  Boston,  — 
another  monstrosity,  as  my  learned  friend  in  New  York 
would  say  ;  for  the  young  gentleman  is  only  two  years 
older  than  I  am.  And  I  hope,  by  the  time  the  next 
national  meeting  takes  place,  there  will  be  fifty  such 
demonstrations  of  Young  America.  Call  us  by  what 
name  you  please  :  any  appellation  you  may  choose  to 
use  will  not  take  from  the  good  that  we  temperance-boys 
are  determined  to  achieve.  Remember,  we  are  the  rising 
generation ;  and  we  are  bound  to  have  no  drinking  in 
our  Senate,  no  drinking  in  our  Congress.  We  want 
sober  men,  who  will  show  themselves  capable  of  baffling 
our  enemies,  if  required,  at  the  shortest  notice  ;  and  this  is 
what  no  man  can  accomplish  with  Bourbon  on  the  brain. 
We  want  those  who  rule  this  extensive  country  to  have 
a  finely-developed  brain,  not  one  who  takes  that  which 
steals  his  brains  away.  I  think  that  Daniel  Boone  and 
Master  Green  ought  to  feel  proud,  that,  at  the  convention, 
they  were  allowed  on  the  rostrum  with  some  of  the  best 
and  most  learned  men  in  this  country  to  deliver  their  sen- 
timents on  this  great  question,  —  total  abstinence.  And 
the  name  of  this  boy  and  myself  is  mentioned,  with  a 
portion  of  the  speeches  we  delivered,  in  a  large  pamphlet, 
which  has  been  printed,  of  all  the  proceedings,  as  reported 
by  Mr.  W.  G.  Tousey  ;  and,  at  the  conclusion,  the  Rev. 
Phineas  Stowe  in  his  prayer  was  pleased  to  mention  me, 
and  hoped,  that,  when  many  of  those  brothers  who  had 
spoken  that  day  might  be  in  their  graves,  I  would  again 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  177 

stand  upon  that  platform  to  speak  on  a  subject  that  should 
engage  the  attention  of  every  good  Christian  ;  and,  with 
the  protection  and  direction  of  a  kind  Providence,  I  hope 
to  fulfil  his  pious  wish. 

Many  persons  say  we  ought  to  have  nothing  of  a  merry 
nature  at  our  temperance-meetings,  and  that  we  ought 
to  say  nothing  that  will  make  our  audiences  laugh. 
I  wish  to  know  why  we  should  not  be  as  happy  and 
joyful  at  these  gatherings  as  we  are  at  our  tea-table. 
I  am  acquainted  with  people  who  are  so  horribly  fanati- 
cal, that  they  actually  protest  that  it  is  a  sin  to  laugh. 
I  want  to  know  why  this  faculty  was  given  to  us  by  our 
Creator,  if  it  is  sinful  to  use  it.  The  very  first  indica- 
tion of  sense  that  a  pure,  undefiled,  innocent  babe  of 
four  or  five  weeks  old  gives  us,  in  return  for  our  loving, 
tender  words  and  caresses,  is  a  smile  which  beams  like 
an  extra  sun  sent  forth  from  the  very  soul  of  paradise 
to  gladden  our  hearts,  and  reminds  us  of  our  Redeemer's 
touching  speech,  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me, 
and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heav- 
en." And  these  innocents  at  eight  and  nine  months  actu- 
ally laugh  aloud,  which  shows  that  there  is  truth,  beauty, 
innocence,  and  purity  in  a  harmless  laugh.  And  remem- 
ber, we  are  not  all  organized  alike.  Some  people  love  to 
laugh  ;  others,  to  cry,  like  the  two  philosophers  of  old.: 
and  I  say,  let  us  humor  these  opposites,  if  we  wish  to 
benefit  society.  Let  us  make  everybody  by  moral 

suasion  an  abstainer,  and  not  by  compulsion.    We  cannot 
12 


178  ADDRESSES  ON   TEMPERANCE. 

expect  to  draw  all  men  away  from  their  convivial  meet- 
ings, unless  they  have  something  to  amuse  them.  I  think 
Mr.  John  B.  Gough  shows  his  wisdom  when  he  makes 
his  hearers  feel  happy.  This  is  the  great  secret  why  he 
gets  so  many  to  sign  the  pledge :  they  see  that  it  does 
not  require  either  wine  or  whiskey  to  create  cheerfulness. 
If  we  take  an  expansive  view  of  this  subject,  we  will 
find  that  there  is  much  to  be  grateful  and  thankful  for  in 
this  wicked  world,  as  some  people  are  so  apt  to  call  it. 
No,  my  dear  friends,  this  is  a  beautiful  world  ;  for  not- 
withstanding the  vile  slanders  that  go  on  from  day  to  day, 
notwithstanding  the  thieves  and  drunkards  that  are  still 
in  existence,  notwithstanding  all  the  rebellious  crimes  that 
frail  humanity  continues  to  be  heir  to,  still  God  showers 
down  Ifis  blessings  upon  us.  For  when  we  plant  the 
wheat,  our  mortal  staff  of  life ;  when  we  plant  the  acorn, 
which  spreads  into  the  stupendous,  mighty,  and  useful  oak, 
—  down  comes  the  uncontaminated  water  from  heaven 
to  moisten,  and  set  it  firmly  in  the  earth,  and  out  shines 
the  warm,  loving  sun,  to  bring  these  blessings  to  matu- 
rity;  showing  that  it  is  the  inhabitants  who  are  wicked, 
and  not  the  world,  and  so  clearly  revealing  to  us  that 
"  God  is  love."  Yes,  my  friends,  this  is  a  beautiful 
world. 

I  cannot  help  laughing  when  I  see  people  with  every 
luxury  this  world  can  produce,  and  that  gold  can  pro- 
cure for  them,  looking  as  wretched  as  if  they  were 
going  to  be  hung.  But  I  forgot  these  people  do  smile 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  179 

sometimes,  and  talk  baby-talk,  but  not  to  a  disagreeable 
child,  for  they  hate  children,  but  to  a  dear  little  doggie, 
—  the  dear  little  lambs  !  Ah,  my  friends  !  many  a  little 
doggie  is  sleeping  on  the  lap  of  a  finely-dressed  lady,  and 
fed  on  the  best  food,  while  little  children  are  homeless, 
houseless,  and  hungry,  and  driven  off  the  door-steps  of 
some  grand  mansion,  as  if  they  were  in  reality  dogs,  and 
had  never  a  soul  to  be  saved.  Poor  little  children! 
How  frequently  do  we  read  in  our  dailies,  "  A  young 
thief,"  or  u  a  hard  character,  only  ten  years  old  !  "  —  in 
fact,  continually  do  we  hear  of  the  delinquencies  of 
youth,  which  are  generally  shown  out  in  the  broadest 
possible  light.  We  are  all  too  apt  to  forget  that  those 
sprites  are  born  in  houses  little  better  than  dog-kennels, 
and  that  the  first  nourishment  they  receive  is  gin,  through 
their  mothers'  milk ;  and  that  hundreds,  in  large  cities, 
lie  in  filthy  alleys;  with  the  stones  for  their  couch,  and 
nothing  but  the  canopy  of  heaven  to  cover  them.  And 
yet  everybody  knows  that  Christ  blessed  little  children. 
May  his  wings  shelter  these  neglected  ones !  Look  well 
into  these  truths,  you  who  bestow  your  time  in  washing, 
feeding,  and  kissing  your  lap-dogs.  Does  not  this  state- 
ment show  us  a  good  reason  why  we  should  all  take  the 
pledge, —  more  especially  we  young  people. 

I  am  glad  to  find  so  many  Sunday  schools  in  this  re- 
fined city.  What  a  blessing,  that  Mr.  B.  W.  Williams 
does  not  hate  children !  for  he  has  the  largest  Sunday 
schools  in  Boston.  What  a  blessing  that  the  Rev.  Father 


180  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

Haskins,  of  the  same  city,  does  not  hate  little  children, 
but  leads  the  wanderer,  who,  for  want  of  parents  or 
proper  ones,  has  gone  astray,  back  to  the  straight  road 
of  honesty,  goodness,  and  truth  !  And  God  must  bless 
such  men  as  these.  No  matter  what  their  creed  may 
be,  their  example  will  shine  brightly  in  this  "  naughty 
world." 

Now,  you  boys  who  have  not  signed  the  pledge,  come, 
one  and  all,  forth  boldly,  and  put  your  name  down  to- 
night. Let  temperance  be  our  king  in  this  free  country, 
and  let  us  be  loyal  subjects  all  the  days  of  our  life !  Let 
we  youths  of  America  clasp  this  great  emblem  of  peace 
to  our  hearts  as  a  loving  mother  does  her  lost  child  when 
restored  to  her !  Let  us  eschew  evil,  and  court  all  that 
is  really  good  ;  for,  without  this  determination,  we  can- 
not be  really  great.  Let  us  be  one  united  band  of 
brothers  in  this  cold-water  army  ;.  and  then  we  will 
prove  that  we  really  are  the  greatest  nation  in  the  world. 


ADDRESSES  ON   TEMPERANCE.  181 


A  FEW  SOLID  QUESTIONS  TO  RUM-DRINKERS. 

Written  by  Anna  B.  Boone,  and  delivered  by  her  Son  Daniel,  on  Sunday, 
twenty- fifth  December,  18G4,  at  the  first  Father  Mathew's  Society  organ- 
ized in  New  York,  361  Broome  Street,  and  at  every  Temperance  Society 
in  New  York  and  Broolclyn. 


MY  BROTHERS  AND  FRIENDS, — The  former  lecture 
I  delivered  to  you  was  especially  addressed  to  persons 
who  affirm  that  they  take  beer  and  other  stimulants 
because  they  are  used  to  them,  but  don't  care  about 
them ;  alleging  that  they  will  never  take  too  much,  and 
that  they  can  leave  it  off  whenever  they  please.  Well, 
we  have  asked  them  to  please  to  do  it  at  once  ;  and  some 
of  them  have  done  so :  but  we  will  leave,  for  the  present, 
this  class  of  drinkers  to  their  own  reflections,  and  make 
an  appeal  to  those  persons  who  take  drink  because  they 
do  care  about  it.  In  the  first  place,  I  hope  and  believe 
every  man  in  this  hall  is  perfectly  sober,  at  least  for  to- 
nigut ;  then,  while  you  are  quite  yourselves,  and  are  feel- 
ing and  acting  like  rational  beings,  let  me  ask  you  a  few 
plain,  honest,  straightforward,  solid  questions.  Does 
brandy,  gin,  or  rum  increase  your  health  if  you  are 
weak?  Does  it  increase  your  intellectual  qualities? 


182  ADDRESSES  CLV  TEMPERANCE. 

No.  Does  it  make  you  wake  in  the  morning  bright, 
happy,  with  good  appetite  and  good  temper,  as  sober 
men?  You  answer,  No.  Does  it  make  your  pocket 
more  able  to  answer  the  demands  on  Saturday  night? 
No,  will  be  the  response  to  all  these  questions  by 
every  man  whose  brain  is  clear  from  the  stupefying 
liquor.  My  drinking  friends,  —  yes,  my  dear  drinking 
friends,  —  I  call  for  you  to  bear  in  mind,  we  teetotalers 
are  your  best  friends  ;  and  it  is  because  you  are  dear  to 
us  that  I  am  here  to-night  to  talk  to  you  ;  and  although 
some  of  you  may  laugh  at  me,,  a  little  boy,  giving  my 
advice  and  my  experience,  I  will  answer  you  as  Brutus 
did  Cassius,  if  you  do.  I  care  not ;  for  I  feel  the  time 
is  fast  approaching  when  hundreds  will  shake  me  by  the 
hand,  and  say,  "  Thank  God,  Daniel  Boone,  1  am  a 
Father  Mathew's  man  now!"  Oh,  how  joyful  I  will 
feel  each  time  I  hear  those  words  vibrate  upon  my  ear ! 
because  I  want  men  to  join  us  with  their  hearts,  as  well 
as  signing  with  their  hands.  But  to  return  to  my  solid 
questions,  and  to  show  you  that  this  drinking  custom  is 
quite  a  monomania.  I  will  illustrate  it  thus:  Will  you 
wear  a  shoe  longer  than  you  can  help  it,  if  it  pinches 
your  little  toe,  that,  perhaps,  has  a  big  corn  on  it  ?  No, 
you  will  kick  it  off  the  first  opportunity.  Would  you 
like  me  to  take  a  piece  of  glass,  and  scrape  the  skin  off 
your  palate  or  throat  ?  If  I  did  so,  I  guess  you  would 
kick  me  as  you  did  the  shoe  that  pinched  your  corn. 
Now,  my  friends,  why  don't  you  kick  the  burning  glass 


ADDRESSES  ON   TEMPERANCE.  183 

of  brandy  away  ?  for  that  not  only  scorches  your  palate 
and  throat,  but  tears  the  thin,  delicate  skins  of  your 
stomach,  —  lacerates  them  and  ulcerates  them,  conse- 
quently rendering  the  digestive  organs  incompetent  to 
fulfil  their  functional  power.  If  a  thief  comes  into  your 
house,  and  strips  the  dress  off  your  wife's  back,  and  emp- 
ties your  cupboard,  would  you  not  give  him  such  a  kick 
that  would  send  him  sprawling  into  the  gutter  ?  I  can 
tell  you,  I  would,  if  any  man  touched  my  wife,  or  robbed 
my  children  of  bread  ;  and  the  law  would  help  to  punish 
him  too.  And  yet,  my  friends,  you  permit  this  hellish, 
insidious  snake,  BRANDY,  to  creep  into  your  house,  and 
divest  those  dear  to  you  of  raiment  and  food,  —  in  fact, 
of  every  thing,  and,  worse  than  all,  your  senses,  and  your 
glorious  identity  to  your  Maker,  who  made  you  in  "  his 
own  image."  Now,  why  don't  you  give  this  snake  such 
a  kick  that  will  shiver  him  to  atoms  forever  ;  for  re- 
member, there  is  no  public  law  for  this  thief :  there- 
fore you  must  take  the  law  into  your  own  hands.  Let 
me  implore  you  to  exert  your  moral  courage  and 
strength,  and  pluck  this  fiery  fiend  from  your  brain, 
wrench  him  from  your  hearts,  thrust  him  from  your 
homes,  or  he  will  soon  level  them  into  dens  no  better 
than  dog-kennels,  —  not  fit  for  man  to  dwell  in,  who,  in 
his  natural  state,  is  God's  most  glorious  work.  Does  it  not 
seem  to  you  madness,  when  you  calmly  reason  this  mat- 
ter, that  men  with  good  sense,  talent,  and  thousands  with 
genius,  should  deliberately  injure  their  mental  capabili- 


184  ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE. 

ties,  as  well  as  physically  enfeeble  themselves,  thereby 
rendering  their  actions  unfit  for  an  example  to  their  chil- 
dren, unfit  to  be  called  by  the  holy  name  of  father,  unfit 
to  be  called  by  the  holy  name  of  son  or  brother,  and  the 
sacred  name  of  husband  ?  Young  as  I  am,  these  truths 
have  been  pointed  out  to  me,  and  their  consequences,  by 
her  who  knows  me  best ;  and  I  can  appreciate  them. 
£Jow,  my  dear  friends,  I  am  calling  your  attention  to  these 
facts,  and  entreat  you  to  join  me  in  appreciating  them, 
and  viewing  my  statements  in  a  proper  light,  which  is, 
that  brandy  robs  you  and  your  loved  ones  at  home, 
•while  it  dresses  and  feeds  your  bitterest  enemies  ;  and 
your  hard  earnings  pay  for  it.  I  assert  this  statement 
to  be  a  living  truth,  and  I  dare  any  man  to  say  it  is  a 
lie.  Are  your  feelings  never  wounded,  when  you  are 
buying  your  brandy,  to  see  the  man  or  woman  who  is 
selling  you  this  poison, — yes,  selling  you  your  death- 
warrant^ —  I  say,  do  you  not  feel  a  twitch  of  conscience 
to  see  those  persons  dressed  in  fine  broadcloth  and  silks, 
with  watches,  chains,  and  rings,  and  perhaps  your  wife 
wishing  she  could  get  only  a  respectable  calico  dress,  and 
can't  afford  to  buy  it,  or  a  sick  child  at  home  languish- 
ing for  some  little  dainty  that  the  poor,  distressed 
mother  is  unable  to  procure  for  it  ?  My  deluded  friends, 
you  know,  and  I  know,  and  everybody  knows,  that,  when 
you  are  leading  a  sober  life,  you  would  fly  to  get  your 
sick  child  every  thing  in  your  power;  yes,  and  even 
work  over-time  for  your  beloved  offspring,  and  to  make 


ADDRESSES  ON  TEMPERANCE.  185 

your  home  a  happy  one.  So  do  you  not  plainly  perceive 
that  this  filthy  drink  actually  takes  from  you  your  noble 
qualities  and  feelings  as  a  father,  son,  or  brother,  and 
makes  you  neglect  her  whom  you  have  taken  for  life  to 
share  your  joys  and  your  sorrows,  and  your  grand  aspi- 
rations as  men  become  numbed,  nulled,  and  void,  and 
at  last  every  good  and  noble  feeling  in  your  breast  is 
corrupted ;  and,  when  this  is  the  case,  you  are  lower 
than  the  quadruped  animal.  But,  after  all,  these  tender 
feelings,  these  noble  qualities,  these  grand  aspirations, 
hereditary  to  man,  inherent  in  his  nature,  are  only  at 
this  moment  drowned  in  the  drunkard's  breast  in  brandy  ; 
and,  if  you  choose,  you  can  raise  your  head  out  of  it,  and 
swim  to  dry  land,  to  soar  above  this  burning  river  as 
high  as  the  eagle  does  above  the  pitiful  wasp.  And  then 
your  home  will  once  more  become  bright,  and  the  faces 
of  those  dear  to  you  will  be  radiant  and  beaming  with 
happiness;  and  the  sight  of  this  fairylike  change  will  be 
as  welcome  to  your  hearts  as  the  brilliant  sun  is  to  us  all, 
when  it  shines  forth  in  its  majestic  glory  on  a  bleak, 
cloudy,  wintry  day.  Some  people  say  to  my  mother, 
"  Mrs.  Boone,  you  teach  your  boy  too  much  for  his  age, 
and  let  him  descant  on  subjects  deep  enough  for  men  to 
argue  on."  She  replies,  "  I  feel  we  mothers  cannot  be- 
gin too  early  to  teach  our  children  good  precepts.  4  Train 
up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go.'  Look  at  your 
little  boys  at  ten  and  eleven  years  old,  smoking  and 
chewing.  Listen  to  their  foul,  obscene  language,  and 


186  ADDRESSES  ON   TEMPERANCE. 

ask  yourselves  whether  their  little  bodies,  brains,  and 
hearts  are  not  overtaxed  with  this  early  depravity.  No, 
no :  my  boy  is  fitted,  both  mentally  and  physically,  for 
the  path  I  have  chosen  for  him  to  tread  in  ;  and,  with 
the  help  of  divine  Providence,  I  feel  he  will  achieve 
much  good."  And  so  I  will,  my  friends,  if  I  am  spared. 
I  would  walk  any  night  in  rain  or  snow  to  extricate  even 
one  drunkard  out  of  the  dark  swamp  he  is  stuck  in,  out 
of  the  obnoxious  cesspool  he  is  fast  sinking  into,  if  he 
will  only  join  us  heart  and  hand  in  this  cause,  and 
accept  Father  Mathew's  godlike  legacy,  which  will 
prove  a  crown  of  olive-leaves  to  his  burning,  aching 
brow,  and  diffuse  peace,  joy,  and  genial  warmth  through 
his  heart  in  this  world,  and  which  eventually  will  guide 
him  into  the  narrow  path  that  leads  us  to  eternal  glory, 
where  Father  Mathew  now  dwells  with  the  FATHER  OF 

ALL  MANKIND. 


INTKODTJCTIOIT 

TO 

ANNA  BOONE'S  LIFE-BATTLE  WITH  THE  THREE  BfS  OP 
THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY,— THE  BUMBLE- 
BEES, BUTTEBFLIES,  AND  BARBARIANS. 


I  HAVE  read,  that  the  meeting  and  receding  of  the  under-cur- 
rents  of  the  ocean  affect  the  surface  of  the  water  in  many  ways 
at  different  periods ;  sometimes  causing  a  sleepy  calmness,  at  other 
times  a  great  swelling,  and,  again,  a  raging  madness :  and  yet  the 
masses  arc  ignorant  of  the  reason  of  these  apparently  unaccount- 
able and  uncontrollable  changes,  simply  because  they  arc  ignorant 
of  the  CAUSE.  Few  men  believe  in  any  thing,  unless  it  comes 
within  their  comprehension,  and  they  have  themselves  tested  the 
genuineness  of  the  article  or  subject  in  question.  Hundreds  of 
thousands  of  men  sec  these  natural  changes,  and  are  content  to 
say,  "  God  does  these  things,"  without  exercising  the  intellect  that 
He  gave  them  to  inquire  into  the  why  and  wherefore  of  their  ex- 
istence. No  men  on  earth  are  more  ignorant  than  sailors,  as  a  body  ; 
and  yet  no  men  have  greater  scope  for  improving  their  intellec- 
tual and  Christian  knowledge,  and  of  seeing  daily  the  hundreds 
of  specimens  of  God's  boundless  wonders  in  natural  productions, 
of  which  the  most  insignificant  in  appearance  (if  we  only  knew  it) 
may  be  of  the  greatest  importance  and  value.  These  men  are 
generally  taciturn,  yet  conceited,  and  are  frequently  absolutely  de- 
void of  all  sublimity  of  sentiment ;  for,  if  a  germ  existed,  surely  it 

187 


188  LIFE-BATTLE   WITH  THE  THREE  B.'S. 

would  bo  called  forth,  and  expand  into  wisdom,  on  witnessing  the 
continual  and  rapid  proofs  that  God  is  everywhere  (but  it  is  not  so). 
How  apt  we  all  are  to  pass  by  "little  things,"  and  admire  only 
that  which  is  dazzling  and  grand  to  the  eye,  without  knowing 
whether  it  is  useful,  and  really  worthy  of  our  admiration !  And  yet, 
upon  reflection,  we  can  trace  the  same  great  incomprehensible  Art- 
ist's visible  yet  invisible  omnipresence  in  the  smallest  seed,  or  the 
fresh  blade  of  grass,  that  we  so  often  carelessly  tread  on, — just  as, 
in  the  magnificent  Sun  that  peeps  in  between  our  shutters,  silently 
informing  us  the  morning  of  another  day  has  come,  to  begin  either 
our  toil,  renew  our  pleasures,  or,  perhaps,  to  recall  some  sad  trial 
that  balmy  sleep  had  shut  out  from  our  vision  for  a  time. 

Thousands  of  people  view  these  "  little  things"  as  in  significant, 
nor  once  think  of  how  much  we  are  indebted  to  them  for  comfort, 
affluence,  health  (yes,  and  in  manifold  ways  these  tiny  things  be- 
come mighty),  and  that  life-giving  results  spring  even  from  little  blades 
of  grass.  Now,  as  I  have  spoken  of  the  under-current s  of  the  ocean, 
that  so  few  of  the  "many"  know  any  thing  about,  and.  of  their 
mightiness  in  swaying  the  tides,  and  of  "  little  things  "  that  so  few 
contemplate  about,  and  jet  again  remind  my  reader  of  their  great- 
ness, —  now,  there  is  something  more  that  I  wish  particularly  to  call 
the  attention  of  my  readers,  especially  the  young;  and  this  is 
the  under-currents  of  society.  Much  MORE  depends  on  the  good 
or  evil  among  private  circles  than  public  men,  —  I  mean  men  hold- 
ing high  office,  —  because  these  are  but  a  FEW  -out  of  mjUi&n*. 
Should  a  public  man  be  a  despot,  he  is  "  the  observed  of  all  ob- 
servers," and  can  only  go  to  a  certain  length  of  despotism  ;  but  the 

PRIV4.TE  TYRANT  OF  SOCIETY  can  COUlUlit  THOUSANDS  of  DE- 
GRADED deeds  that  none  but  the  OPPRESSED  can  feel  or  know  any 
thing  about. 

When  Mrs.  Lincoln  gave  parties  at  the  White  House  during  the 
war,  everybody  knew  it  (these  deeds  had  better  been  left  undone, 


INTRODUCTION.  189 

I  acknowledge)  ;  but  still  people  seem  to  disrcmembcr  the  FACT, 
that,  if  OTHER  WOMEN  had  not  accepted  the  invitations,  there 
could  have  been  no  parties  at  all ! !  Not  a  comment  \vas  made  on 
any  lady  but  the  President's  WIFE.  The  people  did  not  choose  HER 
to  preside  over  this  nation,  but  her  HUSBAND  ;  and  whatever  defects 
or  merits  she  possessed  previously,  would  not  be  made  different, 
because  He  was  chosen  to  be  the  chief-magistrate.  Mr.  Dyer 
showed  forth  the  Water-Street  degradations,  and,  I  think,  did  much 
good  ;  although  I  cannot  agree  with  him  in  thinking  that  the  late 
John  Allen  was  the  most  wicked  man  in  New  York.  In  the  first 
place,  that  would  be  a  most  difficult  problem  to  solve  in  such  a  city ; 
and,  in  the  second  place,  John  did  not  AFFECT  to  be  a  GOOD  man, 
but  candidly  acknowledged  he  was  a  BAD  ONE,  which  took  away 
a  portion  of  his  sins  instantly  (at  least,  so  thought  one  of  our  old  phi- 
losophers). How  many  persons  there  are  in  this  world,  defined  as 
noble  and  grand,  both  men  and  women,  and  who  in  reality  are  most 
debased  !  and  others,  who  arc  slandered  without  one  atom  of  truth : 
these  facts  have  come  directly  under  my  observation.  The  former 
people  compose  the  chief  part  of  the  "  under-currcnts  "  of  society  that 
affect  the  outer  world,  and  are  able  either  to  ELEVATE  or  DEGRADE 
it,  because  they  have  the  power,  with  money  or  position  (and  too 
often  both)  ;  consequently  can  silently,  but  EFFECTUALLY,  work 
their  good  or  evil  desires.  I  have  travelled  through  the  principal 
cities  of  England,  Scotland,  and  America ;  and  many  a  time,  when 
I  have  witnessed  the  actions  of  "  private  "  people  in  private  life,  I 
have  bethought  me,  if  a  Queen  did  this,  or  a  President,  or  a  poet, 
or  a  Governor,  an  actor,  or  actress,  how  quickly  the  world  would  be 
made  cognizant  of  the  whole  affair,  with  TEN  THOUSAND  ADDI- 
TIONS !  When  public  people  rise  or  retire,  go  out  or  come  in,  every- 
body knows  it.  What  they  wear  or  eat  is  actually  made  the  topic  of 
conversation  from  the  nobleman's  castle  down  to  the  laborer's  cot- 
tage. And,  oh !  if  we  could  sometimes  take  a  PEEP  into  the  CASTLE 


190  LIFE-BATTLE    WITH  THE   THREE  B,'S. 

or  the  COTTAGE  window,  what  SCENES  might  meet  our  eye !  1  am 
not  a  believer  in  PLACES  making  minds  pure:  it  is  in  the  in'md  of 
the  individual  that  purity  exists,  and  the  associations,  that  help  to 
purify.  Some  writers  expatiate  on  the  purity  of  country-life,  as  if 
the  inhabitants  were  really  better.  Of  course,  the  air  is  clearer 
and  more  wholesome  ;  but  oftentimes  there  is  more  gabble  and  slan- 
der going  on  in  a  small  village  than  in  a  large  city.  The  FOULEST 
DEEDS  have  been  committed  in  villages.  The  most  atrocious  mur- 
ders have  been  perpetrated  by  rustics,  out  in  the  green  fields, 
under  the  broad  blue  sky,  in  the  VERY  FACE  OF  HEAVEN,  with  the 
chaste,  silvery  moon  shedding  down  her  soft  rays  of  light  upon  the 
murderers  and  their  victims.  The  blood  has  been  found  on  the  rich, 
green,  velvet  moss  ;  the  graceful  trees  have  fanned  the  face  of  the 
murderer ;  and  millions  of  brilliant  stars,  Hashing  like  diamonds, 
have  witnessed  these  fulsome  deeds. 

When  I  went  to  a  lovely  town  in  Vermont,  after  my  boy,  I  had 
only  been  a  few  hours  there,  when  I  was  informed  that  the  wife 
of  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  that  place  had -just  given  birth  to 
a  child  by  one  of  her  husband 's  most  intimate  friends.  Subse- 
quently, I  staid  a  few  nights  with  this  family ;  and  the  husband's 
bister  informed  me  of  the  whole  affair.  No  excuse  :  this  couple  had 
lived  happily  for  eleven  years ;  the  wife  had  every  luxury.  No  pov- 
erty, foul  air,  dirt,  nor  corruption  was  near  her;  only  her  OWN  cor- 
rupted HEART.  After  the  birth  of  the  babe,  she  went  home  to  her 
mother's,  and  left  him  whom  she  had  promised  to 'be  iaithful  to, 
holding  his  head  down  in  shame  till  the  end  of  his  days.  There  was 
no  doubt  about  any  of  this  sad  case  ;  for,  thinking  she  was  going  ;o 
die,  she  had  written  a  full  confession  to  her  husband :  the  child  was 
born  under  HIS  roof.  And,  in  the  same  town,  a  girl  of  fourteen  years 
was  on  the  eve  of  becoming  a  mother  ! !  Suppose  these  crimes  had 
been  committed  by  Public  People,  what  a  FEAST  the  gossips  and 
slanderers  would  have  had !  There  is  not  a  sin  in  existence,  but 


IN  TR  OD  UCTION.  19 1 

has  taken  place  in  a  country  town  or  village,  showing,  that  where 
frail  humanity  dwells,  THERE  LIVES  SIN  ALWAYS  (of  course,  more 
or  less,  according  to  the  number  of  inhabitants)  ;  and  that  a  really 
pure  mind,  and  keen  apprcciators  of  God's  creations,  arc  to  be  found 
in  lonely  attics  and  back  rooms  in  dirty  streets,  is  not  to  be  doubted. 
When  Mrs.  Stowe  attacked  Byron,  and  Mr.  Fulton  Dickens,  they 
both  had  been  men  of  genius,  and  public  men  (only  a  very  few 
would  have  heard  a  word  about  them,  had  they  been  cvery-day 
sort  of  folks,  in  PRIVATE  LIFE,  even  had  they  committed  the  foulest 
acts).  If  Mr.  Fulton  had  only  thought  of  the  fact  that  several 
CLERGYMEN  not  farfrom  Boston  were  guilty  of  a  crime  even  MORE 
heinous  than  the  one  that  Byron  was  FALSELY  accused  of,  I  think 
he  might  have  been  SILENT  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Dickens's  sepa- 
rating from  his  wii'e,  merely  because  their  tempers  were  Incompatible. 
If  every  man  that  is  unfaithful  to  his  marriage-tie  is  sent  to  per- 
dition, I  much  fear  old  BEELZEBUB  will  have  to  enlarge  his  sub- 
terranean Castle  to  make  room  for  them  ! !  * 

The  printers  have  sent  for  these  few  sheets,  so  I  am  compelled 
to  stop  before  I  have  written  half  that  I  wish  to  say,  and  will  just 
add,  we  all  too  frequently  forget  that  it  is  private  people  that  make 
up  the  million,  and  are  in  REALITY  the  rulers  of  every  nation. 
Every  evil  that  has  been  repealed,  both  in  England  and  America, 
was  done  by  the  MASSES  in  private  life,  —  not  by  a  Jang,  a  presi- 
dent, or  an  emperor.  In  speaking  of  the  different  Bumblebees,  Butter- 
flies, and  BARBARIANS  that  I  have  had  to  fight  with  in  my ';  Life- 
Battle,f  "  I  shall  call  them  all  by  their  true  names ;  and  I  beg  to  in- 
form my  readers  that  they  are  all  LIVING,  so  can  answer  for  tliem- 

*  If  the  alleged  slander  against  Fulton  be  false,  still  let  us  admire  TlUon  for 
stating  what  he  does  while  the  man  is  ALIVE,  and  able  to  answer  for  HIMSELF, 
whicii  he  has  done  at  the  TEMPLE,  and  on  the  same  platform  where  he  vilified 
the  dead  man.  (This  is  retribution,  my  friends ! !)  God  never  forgeta. 

f  Good  reader,  a  great  number  of  the  three  B.'s  of  the  nineteenth  century 
I  encountered  in  England,  as  well  as  in  other  lands. 


192  LIFE-BATTLE   WITH  THE   THREE  B.'S. 

selves  if  I  state  aught  but  the  truth.  I  feel  convinced  that  every 
mother  will  thank  me  for  writing  this  book ;  for  it  will  be  a  warning 
to  young,  volatile  girls,  as  well  as  unthinking  women.  I  shall  com- 
mence from  my  landing  in  America,  a  very  young  woman,  and  a 
stranger.  I  shall  occasionally  give  a  portion  of  my  diary  as  I 
wrote  it  at  that  time.  My  book  will  contain  five  hundred  pages- 
I  shall  show  that  when  friends  proved  false,  how  the  GREAT  and 
TRUE  FRIEXD  to  the  afflicted  never  forsook  me,  and  always  an- 
swered me  when  I  called  upon  him  ;  how  He  watched  over  me  when 
I  thought  I  was  forgotten.  Remember,  all  the  evils  that  I  shall  state 
can  be  put  down,  if  the  masses  take  it  upon  themselves  I 

Although  I  am  not  what  is  termed  a  "  Woman's  Rights  Wo- 
man," yet  I  am  for  my  sex  being  protected  in  whatever  they  under- 
take to  do  honestly ;  and  I  am  sorry  to  add,  that  I  will,  in  my  next 
book,  be  able  to  give  many  incidents  where  law  was  lawless  to 
women  without  a  HUSBAND  or  a  PROTECTOR. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 

— . 

270ct'58CS| 


a. 


LD  21A-50m-9,'58 
(6889slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


YB  07640 


- 
THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALlFdl^IA;IJBRARY 

" 


1 

I  -::-; 


